Starstruck
by HolaitsCiara
Summary: Au: It's spring break and the girls are off to the city of angels. New and old faces are seen and teen heartthrobs are chased. -"Do you get the feeling that we're being watched?"- Just remember one thing, nothing is ever as they seem.
1. Trailer

So this is my first official story on Fanfiction, it's sort of based off of the movie Starstruck. And yeah..

I just need an opinion. Should I continue on with this?

By the way, everyone in this story is normal. As of right now. But I don't know yet.

Disclaimer: All copyrights are to its rightful owners.

* * *

**Cammie, Liz, Bex, and Macey chase down a teen heartthrob on spring break  
**  
_"He went that way!"_  
_"No he didn't, he went the other way."_  
_"guys—"_  
_"WHAT?"_

**Things get a little confusing**

_"Take a left here."_  
_"There is no left, genius!"_  
_"I'm the one holding the map!"_  
_"Yeah, upside down!"_

**Everyone gets tangled in a big web of lies**

_"She's my... uh... girlfriend?"_  
_"You never said you had a boyfriend!"_  
_"I don't have one!"_  
_"... So who is he?"_

**And somewhere in L.A. Preston hallucinates**

_"I saw Macey!"_  
_"Sir, are you okay?"_  
_"Yes, I'm fine. But I saw Macey!"_  
_"Are you sure? Macey's staying at school."_  
_"I saw her... right?"_

**But in the end, everything works out. Sort of.**

_"You have no idea how long we've been chasing you!"_  
_"I'm flattered?"_  
_"Don't be!"_

**Coming soon.**


	2. Pinky and The Brain

_[Insert cheesy TV Commercial music here]_

"_Grant Newman wants to give you a chance to record a duet with him for his upcoming movie _Zombies_! Audition now!"_

* * *

"I can't believe I let you guys talk me into this," Cammie muttered as their plane landed at LAX. It was spring break and and the girls had gone to Los Angeles to meet pop sensation, Grant Newman. Originally, it was only supposed to be Bex who was going to go to L.A. and audition for a duet with said singer. But then Macey found out, and she decided to come with Bex and drag Liz and Cammie along with them.

"It's just for 2 weeks, Cam. We'll live," Liz said in her deep southern accent. "Now come on, we don't want to keep Bex and Macey waiting. You know how they get." Liz smiled at her reassuringly, and grabbed her suitcase. A defeated Cammie followed.

After checking in the hotel, they headed up to their suites. Cammie and Liz were to share a room and next door was Bex and Macey's room. They made their separate ways and Cammie and Liz started to unpack their things.

"Whoa," was the first thing that came out of Bex's British mouth when she saw the suite she and Macey shared. After exploring the suite, Bex found out that it had 2 queen beds, a huge bathtub, and a walk-in closet. "This place is bloody awesome!"

"Yeah, it kind of is," Macey replied, giving a nod of approval of the suite. Meanwhile, Bex was jumping on one of the beds, while singing a Grant Newman song. Macey just laughed and rolled her eyes.

* * *

Grant Newman crept behind a bush at a nearby Cafe. He wore dark sunglasses and a red hat which hid his blue eyes and blonde hair from the paparazzi. Ever since the rumour that he was dating Taylor Swift came up, the paparazzi seemed to love him even more. It's funny how a simple act of kindness could mean so much more to the media. And now here he was waiting for the paparazzi to leave so _he_ can leave.

His phone's text-tone rang and he grabbed his phone out of his pocket. It was a text from Lucas, his best friend.

**Where are you? **

Grant stared at the screen, he typed up a reply saying that he needs help getting away from the paparazzi and hit send. Now all he had to do was wait.

It didn't take long for Lucas to arrive; the hotel he was staying at wasn't too far from Grant's supposed location. Lucas sauntered over to the bush his friend, Grant was currently hiding behind, and gave Grant a plastic bag.

"What in the world—" Grant was about to say something but Lucas cut him off.

"It's a wig," Lucas replied with a grin.

"I know that," Grant replied. "But why in the world would I wear it?"

"You said you needed my help," Lucas smirked. "This is me helping you."

"But why does it have to be pink?" Grant whined.

"Because it's not like anyone would suspect Grant Newman—of all people—to have pink hair," Lucas explained, still grinning. "Now Let's go, Pinky! The Brain is waiting."

"Oh, shut up!"

* * *

"Wow," Liz said after finishing her dinner. "That was delicious!"

"Remind me to move to L.A. after we graduate," Cammie said, reclining in her seat, a satisfied smile on her face. Bex let out a laugh and Macey grinned.

"Will do, Cam," Bex said standing up and stretched. "I'm off to bed, ladies. I have to get well-rested for my audition."

"Goodnight!" Macey, Cammie, and Liz chorused.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Pretty boring chapter, but it's just an introduction. The next chapter will hopefully be more interesting and entertaining.**

**So Lucas is my OC, I don't really know what my plan for him is yet, for all I know he could just be Grant's friend who pops up at random places.**

**I know that Zach & Jonas aren't in this chapter, but I have a plan for them. So if you're a Zach fan or a Jonas fan, have no fear. They will come. I'm pretty sure :)**

**Disclaimer: All copyrights are to its rightful owners.**


	3. Stupid Wallace

**Disclaimer: All copyrights are to its rightful owners.**

**A/N: So I got some reviews saying they liked the story. Yay :) And then after a very hectic week of school (technically it's not over yet, but whatever) I decided to update.**

* * *

"I'm so excited!" Bex hummed from the back seat of Macey's rental car. Today was her audition for the duet with Grant Newman and she was currently sitting in the car with Cammie, Macey, and Liz.

"We know, Bex," Cammie rolled her eyes at her exceptionally giddy friend. "You've only said it a million times since we got in the car."

Bex stuck her tongue out at Cammie, but chose to stay silent.

"Take a right here," Macey said, looking up from the map she was holding. Cammie, who was currently sitting at the driver's seat, did as she was told.

"So, what are you singing for your audition today, Bex?" Liz asked.

"That, my dear Lizzie," Bex paused for effect, "is a secret." She smiled deviously and looked out the window. Liz sighed, shaking her head; her friend will always be a walking soap opera.

* * *

Grant Newman was currently suffering through some _very_ excruciating performers. He was sitting at the judging table where was supposed to pick the performer he wanted to do his duet with. To his left was his manager, Jessica Newman AKA his mother. Next to her was Adam Schneider, the producer of his upcoming movie _Zombies_, and to his right was a sleeping Lucas.

"What did you think?" Jessica Newman's voice snapped Grant out of his thoughts.

"Huh?" That was his genius response.

"I said," Jessica sighed exasperated. "What did you think of the last audition?"

Grant stared at her blankly. Truth be told, he had no clue what the last audition was. He didn't even know what he or she looked like. _I wonder if it was a girl,_ he thought. _I wonder if she's hot..._ "It was good," he smiled nervously at his mother.

"Are you serious?" Jessica gawked at him. "Grant she was _not_ good. In fact, she was far from good."

"_Okay_, how about we take a five minute break?" Adam asked, obviously aware of the scene that was about to unravel.

"Fine," Jessica said, leaving the room with Adam right behind her. The door made a deafening sound when it slammed shut, causing Lucas to jump from his slumber.

"I didn't eat the last cookie!" Lucas yelled, looking around expectantly. Grant gave him an amused look, and Lucas looked down embarrassed. "So, what did I miss?" he asked trying to change the subject.

"You do _not_ want to know."

* * *

"Where are we?" A nervous Liz asked.

"_We_ are in the middle of nowhere, thanks to Macey!" Cammie said through clenched teeth, sarcasm dripping from her words.

"Well, _excuse me_!" A defensive Macey replied, trying to read the map. _Trying_ was the keyword. "Take a left here."

"There _is_ no left, genius!" Cammie retorted.

"Hey! I'm the one holding the map!" Macey glared.

"Yeah, upside down!" Cammie said, trying to keep calm, but is obviously failing in the process. "Macey, give me the map."

"No!" an indignant Macey responded, holding the map as far away as possible from Cammie. "I'm the map holder, not you!"

"Oh, for crying out loud, would you two just shut up?" Bex yelled. "Cammie just turn this car around before I miss my audition," she instructed. "I still have to sign up..."

* * *

Grant Newman banged his head on the judging table, silently cursing himself for signing up for this. Standing before him was a girl attempting to sing the famous, _I Will Always Love You_, very, very badly. Grant looked over at Lucas, whose face showed a mixture of agony, regret, and annoyance. He couldn't blame Lucas; he probably wore the same exact same expression on his face.

"Kill. Me. Now," Lucas whispered.

Grant sent his friend a menacing glare, telling him to be nice. Lucas just shrugged it off.

"Look," Adam said, interrupting the girl's audition. "You're a great girl, but this just isn't the right place for you, sweetheart." The girl looked like she was about to burst in to tears, but instead she nodded and left.

"Well, according to my list, that's the last of it," Jessica said, looking down at the list in her hands. Grant gave a sigh of relief; he was glad that the auditions were over.

"Alright people," Adam said. "It's time to decide."

* * *

Bex frantically ran across the parking lot of the building the auditions were being held at. She was already late for her audition, and she hadn't even signed up yet. After yelling out some very colourful words, she dashed through the front door and found a security guard standing outside the audition room.

"I need to get in there." She was panting now, a hand clutching her chest.

"Sorry, auditions are over. They're deciding now." The security guard looked at her with pity.

"Look, I know I'm late, but I just need one chance," she said, slightly annoyed at the security guard.

"Then you should have came on time," he retorted, angering Bex.

She glared at the security guard, her eyes landing on a name tag on his uniform. "Looky here, _Wallace._" She emphasized his name with as much venom as she could muster up. "I came here all the way from Virginia, just to audition. The only reason I'm late is because my friends don't know how to read a map. Now let me in!"

"No." This really angered Bex. Her caramel-coloured eyes darkened and she tackled Wallace. Wallace, who was slightly taken aback by this action, called for backup. It took exactly three security guards to pry her off of Wallace.

Bex glared at Wallace, and stalked off. Her one and only chance at a music career was ruined, and now she can't find where her friends had parked the car. Life was not working for her.

She was aimlessly walking around the lot when she received a text message from Macey.

**How did it go?**

She sighed and typed up a reply.

**Missed it :(**** stupid Wallace wouldn't let me in.**

Her phone gave a beep, and she answered it.

**Aww ****:(**** and who's Wallace? Is he cute?**

She stared at the screen of her phone. _Wallace? Cute? Yeah right,_ she thought bitterly.

**Cute? More like Old. He's the security guard here. Where are you? Pick me up. **

* * *

**A/N: I didn't really like this chapter, though I hope you did.**

**Since it's spring break (hehe) and I'm going to have more time to think of better ideas, and possibly update. Speaking of spring break, it's almost spring break, well for most of us it is. Just a little advise: Don't do anything stupid.**

**If any of you have any ideas for this story, feel free to PM me or write a review. That would be greatly appreciated :)**

**Thanks!**


	4. That is One Talented Snail

"Get up, Bex!" A very irritated Macey shrieked, shaking the other girl awake.

"No!" Bex whined from underneath the covers. "I don't want to get—"

"Bex," Liz's southern voice interrupted. "I know you're upset and all, but you're going to have to get up sometime," she reasoned. However, a very indignant Bex didn't listen and continued to mope around.

* * *

Grant Newman awkwardly sat next to the daughter of the director of _Zombies_. Apparently, Nicole—said daughter of the director—was a big fan of Grant, and is now smothering him with questions about his personal life. _Do you have a girlfriend? Would you ever date a fan? Is it true you're dating Taylor Swift?_

"No," Grant said defensively. "I'm not dating Taylor Swift. Why does everyone think that?"

"You had your arm wrapped around her waist on some party," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"She was going to fall in the pool, and I saved her," he said, flailing his arms around. "That's it."

"Oh, well goody!" She exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Grant. "That means you're available."

Grant stared at her wide-eyed. "Excuse me?" he yelled.

* * *

Macey and Liz sat on Macey's bed talking about the new Britney Spears song, when Cammie came in the suite. "Is she still..." Cammie trailed off. Liz and Macey both nodded and stood up, getting ready to leave the suite. When all of a sudden, a raging Bex threw off the covers, and started to rant about why her life sucks.

"I hate my life!" She ranted. "My one and only chance at stardom is ruined! I can't believe this! I'm never going to—" The rant continued on for at least 10 minutes until Macey decided that enough was enough and threw a pillow at Bex. "What was that for?" Bex yelled.

"It was one audition Bex," An exasperated Macey said. "You'll get another chance." Then a flash of happiness appeared in Macey's eyes, as if she had just thought of the single greatest idea in the world. "Now come on, were going shopping!"

Bex didn't move form her spot and Macey glared at her. "Hurry up, a snail is faster than you!"

* * *

Lucas Ranger was bored. He was currently sitting in his hotel room with absolutely nothing to do. You see, Lucas came to L.A. to visit Grant from boarding school for spring break. And yet here he was, bored out of his freaking mind, because Grant wasn't available. After waiting an hour for Grant to meet him—and getting stood-up in the process—he took out his phone and texted Grant.

**Dude, where the hell are you?**

After a few minutes, Grant finally responded to his text.

**I'm sorry. I'm stuck with the director's daughter! Go do something fun or something. Go tour L.A. :D**

Lucas rolled his eyes at his friend. So while he's in his hotel room, bored out of his mind. Grant was off canoodling with some girl at a meeting. Deciding that Grant was probably right, he grabbed the keys to the Porsche Grant lent him, and left.

* * *

"That is one talented snail," Bex pointed out as she walked out from the bathroom. She was as beautiful as ever with her cappuccino skin, and caramel-coloured eyes. She wore a pair of skinny jeans, black boots, and a navy-blue top. Macey gave a nod of approval and walked towards the door heading to Cammie's and Liz's suite. _Bex was back_, she thought. _Well sort of..._

They headed out to the hallway and walked towards the elevator. Liz was currently blabbing about a new laptop she really wanted. Cammie was listening to her iPod, Bex was muttering profanities about Wallace under her breath, and Macey rolled her eyes at her friends. It was then that fate decided to be cruel and cause Macey, the usually composed one out of the four of them, to crash not-so-gracefully into something, or rather someone. She opened her mouth to give out an apology to whomever she had just ran into and then quickly closed it when she realized just who it was.

Grey eyes met blue ones and the aforementioned someone gaped at her. "McHenry?"

* * *

**A/N: **

**I had to upload this before I forgot since I'm so skilled at forgetting things.  
**

**I know, I _suck_ at cliffhangers, but whatever.**

**Anyways, reviews are very much appreciated. So if you're going to write one, answer a few questions for me, will you?**

**-What did you think of this chapter?**  
**-Do you like snails?**  
**-Do you want Zach or Jonas or _both_ in the next chapter? **

**Disclaimer: All rights are to it's rightful owners.**

**Peace,**  
**Ciara :D**


	5. He's Not Voldemort!

Liz was confused—which rarely happened, by the way. Her eyebrows furrowed and she wondered why Macey would be glaring murderously at the boy standing before them. It couldn't possibly be because he was ugly, because let's face it, the boy currently gaping at Macey was far from ugly. He had messy jet-black hair and steely grey eyes. He wore high-end clothing, something Liz was _sure_ Macey would appreciate, and for some reason he looked familiar. Liz stared at the stranger, trying to put a name on his face. In the end, Liz decided that whoever this stranger was, he has a history with Macey.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Macey asked staring at him with disdain, her words dripping with venom.

"I could ask you the same thing, McHenry," the boy said in a mocking tone.

"I'm here with friends," Macey replied snobbishly, still glaring at the boy. "Now answer my question."

"I missed you too, by the way," he said sarcastically. "I see you got your braces removed."

"Cut the crap, Lucas!" Macey hissed. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm visiting friends for spring break," this supposed Lucas replied.

"Ooh friends, I didn't know you had any," Macey shot at him.

Lucas rolled his eyes, a smirk playing at his lips. He walked past them heading to the elevator. "You're still as biting as ever, McHenry. But if you'll excuse me, I have a city to tour," he said, as the elevator dinged open. "Unless of course you want to catch up," he added, winking at Macey just before he disappeared behind the steel doors.

* * *

Cammie walked aimlessly around the mall. Once they got there, Cammie and Liz decided they didn't want to shop and just walked around. She was thinking about the events of this morning. Cammie frowned, unable to shake off the hostility and apparent familiarity between Macey and Lucas. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't even notice where she was going until she crashed into somebody. He was a boy, about her age, with dark unruly hair, chocolate-coloured eyes, and broad shoulders.

"I'm so sorry!" Cammie apologized. "I wasn't looking. I was—I um—I didn't uh." She stuttered.

"Are you going to finish any of those sentences?" The boy smirked at her, obviously amused at her lack of coordination.

"Sorry," she apologized, feeling the blood rush to her cheeks.

"You said that," he replied, coolly.

"Right. Sorry," she repeated, still blushing. She couldn't help but notice the smirk forming at his lips.

As if sensing the awkward silence that has befallen them. The boy cleared his throat and introduced himself. "I'm Zach," he offered a smile.

_Okay, so he is kind of cute,_ Cammie thought.

"I'm Cammie," she replied.

* * *

Liz was currently walking around the mall. She had just told Macey that she didn't want to go shopping and that she would just look around. When all of sudden, she heard a noise. Now, Liz has always been the curious child in her family, so naturally, she followed the noise.

The noise led her outside. There, in a huddled group were a bunch of boys cheering. "What's going on?" she asked a boy with jet-black hair, rimmed glasses, and dark eyes. The boy turned towards her, and blushed immediately after seeing her. Though Liz didn't notice, the only thing she noticed was the writing on the binder he held in his hands. It said, Blackthorne Academy. Liz could have sworn she had heard that before, she racked her brain for the answer but found nothing.

"They are having a robot brawl," he replied, shaking her out of her thoughts.

"What's a robot brawl?" she asked, intrigued.

"Well, first you create your own robot, and then you use that robot to fight someone else's robot," he explained, not looking at her.

"Oh, that's cool!" she said.

"You think it's cool?" The boy asked, turning to look at her nervously. His nervousness must have been contagious because all of a sudden, Liz began to feel nervous too.

"Yes?" she said, but it came out as a question. "Why is that a bad thing?"

"No," he shook his head. "It's just; most girls would think it's creepy and lame."

"Oh."

He gave her a lopsided grin and held out his hand. "I'm Jonas," he said blushing. "Jonas Anderson."

"I'm Liz Sutton," she replied, blushing just as much as him.

They stood there for a moment longer, shaking hands and blushing. To a bystander they must have looked like two idiots, frozen in their place. They probably were. Frozen in their place, that is. Until Liz decided to take a step forward, and trip in the process.

"Oopsy daisies!"

* * *

As Cammie walked towards food court to meet Liz, she couldn't help but think about Zach. _Zachary Goode_, that was his name. After hanging out with Zach, she found out that they had a fair amount of things in common. Not a lot, but it was enough. She found out that, like herself, Zach was in L.A. for spring break with his friends, and she also found out they both go to boarding schools. She went to an all-girls boarding school; he went to an all-boys boarding school.

"How was your day?" Liz asked as Cammie sat down at the table.

"It was good," Cammie said with a smile. "And yours, Lizzie?"

"Just fine," Liz said, blushing slightly. Cammie raised an eyebrow, causing Liz to blush even more. "Where's Bex and Macey?" Liz quickly asked, trying to divert the attention away from her.

"They're still shopping," Cammie rolled her eyes. "Macey texted me saying she was going to shop until Bex drops. Which will be a _very_ long time, considering its Bex we're talking about," Cammie grinned.

* * *

"What do you think?" Macey asked, holding up the shirt in front of her.

"It's not really your colour," Bex replied with a shake of her head.

"Yeah," Macey said quietly. "I thought so too."

Since the encounter with "Lucas" at the hotel, Bex noticed that Macey wasn't her usual self. She was quieter, and she seemed to be have a lot in her mind. Rolling her eyes, Bex opened her mouth to ask her friend about the matter. After all, Macey was no fun to shop with if her mind was elsewhere.

"Who was he?" sheasked.

"Who was who?" Macey asked, confused.

"That guy from the hotel," Bex reminded her, determined to find out who this stranger really was.

"Oh. Him," Macey started, but stopped to think about it. "He's just a guy who doesn't look where he's walking."

Bex rolled her eyes. "More like a _really_ cute guy," she tease, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively at the senator's daughter, who scowled in response. "But seriously, Mace. Who was that guy?"

"Can we please not talk about he-who-shall-not-be-named?" Macey snapped.

"Okay," Bex put her hands up in mock-surrender. "I know you love us Brits and all. But this isn't _Harry Potter_ Macey, and _Lucas_ isn't Voldemort!"

Macey rolled her eyes, and gave her friend an exasperated sigh. She tried to avoid looking at Bex, but ended up looking at someone much unexpected. "Isn't that Grant Newman?" she asked, pointing at a boy with blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

Bex's ears perked up at the sound of Grant Newman's name. She followed the direction of where Macey was pointing towards. And Grant Newman was indeed there. Bex looked at Macey, excitement dancing in her eyes, causing nervousness to spark up in Macey. Bex's mouth twisted into a devious smile.

"I will get my chance, Mace," she said, determination in her voice. "Even If it means I would have to catch him first."

Macey's blue eyes widened. _Who knows what her friend has got I store for the famous Grant Newman..._

* * *

**A/N: **  
**So Lucas is the person who's going to get in the middle of Macey and Preston. JK. It's Preston who's getting in the middle of Lucas and Macey. Or is it Macey getting in the middle of Lucas and Preston? Who knows, even _I_ don't know. Anyways, I know that Grant isn't really in this chapter D: But Zach and Jonas are, YAY! Jonas and his robot brawl... That was really weird. **  
**So, I'm pretty sure that this chapter is longer than any my previous ones, so I hope you liked it. **

**By the way, I wrote this on my iPod before transferring it to my computer, so I'm sorry if there are more grammar problems than usual (if there are any). I tried to edit as best as I can, but it was so hard spotting _every single mistake. _  
**

**Imaginary penny for your thoughts?**

**-What did you think of this chapter?  
****-What do you think Bex is up to?  
****-Did any of the characters seem OOC to you?  
****-What do you think is going on with Macey and Lucas?  
****-Do you like the Harry Potter series?**

**-Ciara :D**


	6. A Bloodthirsty Beast!

"Oh my goodness!" Bex sighed, relieved she was finally done. Surrounding her was a variety of different magazines, all of which contain information on Grant Newman. For the past few hours, she's been researching about him, and now she was finally done. She grabbed the magazine closest to her, and began reading facts about him, much to the others' dismay. "His full name is Grant Tiberius Newman, he shops at Rodeo, he surfs at Malibu..." Bex continued, completely unaware of the odd looks her friends were givigng her.

"Do you plan on telling me what Bex is up to, Mace?" Cammie whispered.

"She's out to kill," Macey whispered back, her tone dead serious.

"Oh, come on, Mace," Cammie whispered, unconvinced. "What is she up to?"

"I told you," Macey whispered back. "She's out for blood."

"Are you kidding me? Who's she going to kill, my aunt Jemima?" Cammie said sarcastically.

"She's out to kill the person responsible for all our pain and suffering." Macey replied, gesturing towards a ranting Bex.

"Ah," Cammie said, finally understanding. "Well, he better watch his back because when he gets run over by a car, it won't be an accident."

* * *

"So, how's Nicole?" Lucas smirked.

"Can we _please_ not talk about _her_?" Grant asked, burying his face in his hands.

"I think Lucas asked a fair question," Jessica Newman scolded her son. "Being seen with Nicole in public is going to be great for your career, Grant Tiberius Newman!"

"Mom," Grant blushed at the use of his middle name. "Please, don't."

"Fine," Jessica Newman stood up from her seat and kissed her son's forehead. "I'll leave you boys to your business. Enjoy your stay Los Angeles, Lucas!"

"Thanks, Mrs. N!" Lucas replied.

Once Jessica was out of ear-shot, Lucas threw his head back and laughed. "Since when did you blush, _Tiberius_?" he teased.

Grant threw a cracker at his laughing friend, which earned him a death glare. "I hate my middle name," Grant explained. "It's like a family tradition; every male child in my family gets named 'Tiberius' one way or another."

Lucas smirked at his friend. Even with the entire buzz at Hollywood, Grant still managed to be as down-to-Earth as possible. "Why don't we go out?" Lucas suggested.

"Lucas, I love you buddy, but we're not friends like that. I'm straight."

"I meant, why don't we go hang out?" Lucas said, rolling his eyes. "Come on, the only reason I came to L.A. was to hang out with you. Yet here we are, sitting in your patio eating cheese and crackers."

"Fine," Grant agreed. "But first, we have to make a caffeine stop."

* * *

"—his celebrity crush is Natalie Portman, he has a pet lizard named 'Mr. Buns'—god knows why—, and he said in an interview that his family, his fans, his music, and his friends mean the world to him," Bex finally finished her rant. Everyone was silent for a while, Macey was lying on her back, Liz was staring at Bex expectantly, and Cammie made an escape 10 minutes after Bex started.

"Well," Liz said, breaking the silence. "That was...uh...educational?"

"That's great, Bex," Macey said, walking over to the bathroom. "Thanks for wasting 30 minutes of my life!"

"Oh, shut up!" Bex yelled, throwing a rolled magazine at Macey's head.

"Ow!"

While Bex and Macey were screaming at each other about the aforementioned magazine and Grant Newman, Cammie sat in the suite she and Liz shared. She was just lounging around when her cell phone's text-tone rang.

**You want to hang out, Gallagher girl?**

She looked at the screen and typed up a reply.

**Why 'Gallagher girl'?**

He cell phone _dinged_. **  
**

**You go to Gallagher don't you? Or at least that's what you told me. And you didn't answer my question.**

She rolled her eyes at his response and typed up one of her own. **  
**

**Yeah, sure let's hang. Where?**

His response read:**  
**

**My friend and I are going sight-seeing. Meet us at the mall.**

* * *

_[Time skip] _

"Would you calm down?" Lucas asked, slightly annoyed.

"I can't," Grant whined, flailing his arms around like little boy. "I feel like I'm being watched!"

Lucas fought the urge to roll his eyes and say that he's always being watched by the paparazzi and instead gave Grant an incredulous look. "Are you okay?"

"No," Grant said, before lowering his voice his voice to a whisper, as if he were afraid of who might be listening. "I feel like someone placed a target on my back saying 'Free Meat', and now some blood thirsty beast is out to get me."

"Yeah," Lucas gave up. "You need a doctor. And _no_, I do _not_ mean Dr. Dre." He added after seeing the hopeful look on his friend's face.

"Aw."

* * *

"Oh my gosh!" Bex whisper-yelled, looking up from the magazine she was currently hiding behind. "He thinks I'm a bloodthirsty beast!"

"Quiet down!" Macey hissed. "He's a table away from us. Do you want him to hear you?"

"No," Bex crossed her arms. "But, still."

Macey, Liz, and Bex were currently sitting at a table at Starbucks. They were a table away from Grant and Lucas and were quite surprised they haven't been busted yet. Bex, being the overly-dramatic person that she is, called themselves 'spies' and said that this was their 'mission', and that they should hide behind magazines so that they won't blow their 'covers'.

"I can't believe he didn't tell me he was friends with Grant," Macey muttered.

"Who? Lucas?" Bex raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Macey said through gritted teeth. "That arrogant douche bag told me he was here for spring break."

"Well, why don't you just talk to him?" Liz said, standing from their table.

"No!" Macey said, stubbornly. "And where are you going?"

"Jonas texted me," Liz said with a goofy smile on her face. "Apparently, him and his friend are going sight-seeing in L.A. and asked if I wanted to come."

"Aw, our Lizzie is growing up," Bex sniffled.

"Oh, be quiet, Bex!" Liz blushed.

"Whatever Lizzie," Bex laughed. "Be careful!"

Macey waved goodbye to Liz and looked back at Grant's and Lucas' table to find that Grant and Lucas were leaving.

"They're leaving," Bex said.

"Are they really?" Macey said sarcastically.

"I don't need you're sarcasm right now, Macey McHenry," Bex rolled her eyes. "Hurry, we have to follow them!"

"Okay, okay."

* * *

"Where's your friend?" Cammie asked as she and Zach walked around the mall.

"He invited a girl he met the other day, and is meeting her at the front entrance."

"Oh," she replied. "I see."

They continued to walk around the mall, talking about their likes and dislikes. As Zach talked, Cammie noticed that he liked to keep his answers vague and cryptic, which slightly annoyed her because he kept on urging her to elaborate with her answers. They talked about their school life and their friends. Cammie told him about Gallagher and a little bit about her best friends. But when she asked him about Blackthorne, he smirked at her and said that it was 'classified'. However, Zach did tell her about his best friend Jonas, who he has known for forever since their mother's are best friends.

"Speak of the devil," Zach said, as a boy their age came into view. "Cammie, this is Jonas. Jonas, this is Cammie."

"Hi," Jonas introduced himself. "This is—"

"Liz!" Cammie interrupted him.

"Yeah," Jonas said. "You two know each other?"

"Yeah," Cammie said. "She's one of my best friends."

"Hi, Cam," Liz smiled at her before turning to Zach. "You must be Zach."

* * *

**A/N:**  
**Grant has a pet lizard named Mr. Buns? Anyways I was supposed to update yesterday, but then I was dragged to a party, where I was forced to write this chapter on my iPod (I think that's becoming habit now, and once again, it's hard to spot all of the mistakes). I didn't really like this chapter very much, I feel as if the characters are OOC, but I'm not really sure. Bex and Macey are up to something... Poor Grant is being chased by two maniacs. :D Umm whoa, Grant and Lucas have been holding out on us about their sexualities.. bromance :P. JK :D their straight. **

**-What did you think of this chapter?**  
**-What should I do for the next chapter?**

**Disclaimer: All copyrights are to their rightful owners. **

**Peace,**  
**Ciara :D**


	7. Lunatics

Lucas frantically surveyed the area for the fifth time in the last hour. Ever since he and Grant left Starbucks, he's had a feeling that they were being followed. At first he thought that it was just the paparazzi, which was typical seeing as he was with Grant. However he realized that the feeling their stalker was giving off was nothing like the annoyance and slight flattery you get from the paparazzi. Instead, it was the feeling you get when you know you're being preyed upon.

"Are you okay, Luc-head?" Grant nervously asked.

"Do you get the feeling that we're being watched?" Lucas asked, surveying the area once more.

"Finally, someone who understands!" Grant exclaimed. "I told you I wasn't a lunatic."

Lucas threw his hand over Grant's mouth. "Be quiet!" he hissed. "Do you want them to hear you?"

Grant shook his head, and Lucas slowly pulled his hand away from Grant's mouth. "Do you know who might be following us?" Grant asked.

"Either someone you've pissed off," Lucas shrugged. "Or someone dangerously obsessed with you."

"What if it's the CIA?" Grant asked wide-eyed. "KGB, MI6, FBI, NSA, Interpol?"

"Grant," Lucas said. "Lay-off the TV, would you?"

"A ninja?" Grant guessed.

Lucas shook his head. "No, a ninja would be trained. They wouldn't get caught."

"A bloodthirsty beast who is out for blood?" Grant guessed once again.

Lucas looked like he was in deep thought. He turned to Grant and looked him in the eye. "Probably," he and Grant laughed.

* * *

"Bex, can we please stop this?" Macey whined as they hid from Grant and Lucas. "My feet are going to get calloused."

"Oh, stop being such a baby," Bex waved her off.

"A baby?" Macey asked in disbelief. "Bex, we've been following them around for the past hour, and all they've done is walk around, be boys, and do nothing!"

"Macey," Bex said. "We have to get to know them first. Then when we know enough, we'll crush their dreams. Hard."

"What does crushing their dreams have to do with anything? I thought you wanted an audition?"

"Ok, I don't know what crushing their dreams will do," Bex admitted. "But this will help me get my audition."

"How?"

"Shh!" Bex hissed as she tried to hear what the boys were saying. "They're talking about me!"

"What?" Macey asked, focusing on the boys' conversation. Upon hearing what they were actually saying, Macey gave Bex a look. "They're not talking about you; they're talking about TV shows, ninjas and bloodthirsty beasts."

"Yeah, those are all me," Bex grinned. "Kind of."

"And you're happy about this because?" Macey asked.

Bex just turned to her and smiled. Macey raised an eyebrow and continued spying with Bex.

* * *

"Do you want to go to the mall?" Lucas suddenly asked.

"Why would I want to go to the mall?" Grant raised an eyebrow. "And why would _you _want to go to the mall? You hate shopping!"

"Just wondering," Lucas shrugged.

There was an awkward silence between them. Grant seemed to be thinking about Lucas' offer and Lucas seemed to be bored. Typical. Grant looked up at Lucas and shrugged. "Yeah let's go."

They got in Grant's Porsche and drove to the mall. As Grant drove, Lucas sat in the passenger seat scrolling through Grant's iPod. "What are you doing?" Grant asked.

"You have weird taste in music," Lucas said, not even bother to look up.

"I do not!" Grant said, defensively.

"Yeah, you do," Lucas said in a matter-of-factly tone. He continued to scroll through Grant's iPod when he found something very un-Grant-like. "Why do you have _Baby_ by Justin Bieber on your iPod?"

"What?" Grant exclaimed. "I thought I deleted that!"

"It's still here," Lucas chuckled.

"Damn," Grant muttered. "I was afraid you'd find out."

"I can't believe you have him on your iPod," Lucas laughed. "Why do you even have him on your iPod?"

"Well Nicole put it there," Grant lied. "She told me not to hate Justin Bieber just because he's successful."

"And you agreed?" Lucas asked. "You're whipped, by a girl you're not even dating."

"Speaking of successful," Grant started, eager to change the subject from his music taste. "I heard you got a full scholarship to any university of your dreams, way to go Einstein!"

"Yeah, whatever," Lucas muttered, forgetting all about the iPod. "It's not a big deal."

"It _is_ a big deal," he urged, and then he said something he knew he would regret later on. "Did you tell your mom?"

"Why would I?" Lucas snapped. "It's not like she'd care."

"Luc, she's still your mom," Grant reasoned. "And you're still her son."

"She stopped being my mom a _long_ time ago. You and I both know that."

"But—"

"Grant," Lucas said looking out the window. "Just drop it, okay?"

* * *

"Where are they going?" Macey asked as she drove.

"I don't know, but keep following." Bex said from the passenger seat.

Macey continued to follow the red Porsche, making sure she kept a good amount of distance away. Next to her, Bex was screaming along to Aerosmith's _I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing_.

"Bex," Macey said grabbing Bex's flailing arms. "Bex calm down."

"Sorry," Bex grinned. "It's so catchy."

Macey shook her head in amusement and turned to face the road, which wasn't really the road anymore since they were at a parking lot.

"We're at a mall," Bex said.

"Way to point out the obvious."

"Thanks, I try."

* * *

Liz sat eating her fries next to Cammie at the food court. In front of them were Zach and Jonas who were arguing about which was better. Mustard or ketchup.

"Boys," Cammie muttered, shaking her head.

"I think Macey is rubbing off on you," Liz giggled.

Cammie rolled her eyes. "Speaking of Macey, I wonder where she is?"

"She's probably off with Bex plotting ways to kill Grant and Lucas."

"Why am I not surprised?" Cammie asked.

All of a sudden Liz's cell phone's text tone rang, the message read:

**You and Cams still at the mall with the McHotties?**

Liz blushed at the mention of the boys and typed up a quick reply.

**Yes, and don't call them that. **

"Who's that?" Cammie leaned over.

"It's Bex."

**Are you saying they're ugly? And Mace and I are at the mall too. Where are you?**

Liz felt the urge to roll her eyes at Bex, but she didn't.

**I'm not saying they're ugly. We're at the food court :D You going to join us? **

**No, Macey and I are still on a mission ;)**

* * *

"What are they doing?" Bex raised an eyebrow at the sight in front of her.

"I think they're shopping," Macey gaped. "I don't think I have ever met a guy who would willingly shop for clothes."

"He _is_ a pop star," Bex shrugged. "It probably runs in his blood. The need for fancy things, that is."

They hid behind a rack of clothes, pretending to browse through them—well Bex was pretending, Macey was trying to keep herself from buying anything.

"Wow, Lucas' got style," Bex said as she watched Grant and Lucas shopped.

"He should be," Macey said. "Fashion runs in their family. Though, I remember he used to hate shopping."

"What do you mean 'runs in the family'?"

"He has three older sisters, who are all models, and his mother is a fashion designer."

"Oh."

* * *

"Are Bex and Macey joining us?" Cammie asked.

"No, they're still chasing Grant and Lucas," Liz sighed.

"Your friends are fans of Grant Newman?" Jonas asked.

Cammie and Liz shared a look. "Uh," Cammie started.

"They used to be," Liz smiled.

"Used to be?" Zach asked. "Then why are they still chasing him?"

"It's kind of a long story," Cammie said, slowly.

"Enlighten me, Gallagher girl," Zach smirked. "And start from the beginning."

And so, Cammie and Liz ended up telling Zach and Jonas the entire story from the very beginning. From the moment they stepped off the plane, to what might Bex and Macey be doing right now. Throughout the entire time that they talked, Liz noticed how Zach didn't take his eyes off of Cammie. Not one second. Jonas on the other hand, looked like he was calculating a math problem in his head. You could practically see the gears churning. After they finished, Zach stared at them with an eyebrow raised, and smirk on his lips. Next to him, Jonas sat in his chair with a conflicted look on his face.

"Girls are so confusing," Jonas said, burying his face in his hand out of frustration.

"Your friends are lunatics, Gallagher girl," Zach joked.

"Yes," Cammie agreed, smiling. "Yes, they are."

* * *

**A/N: **  
**I hope you liked this chapter :) A little bit of Lucas' past is revealed. Hopefully I can write more scenes with Zach and Cammie, Liz and Jonas, and take on a more romantic chapter for the love birds. Isn't Grant such a good friend? Whenever I read GG stories on FanFiction, I always imagined Grant as a playboy, but really a good friend. I wrote this chapter while watching American Idol. I don't even know why that is in any relation to this but whatever. Poor Jonas is so confused about what just happened. Someone should _really_ give that boy a math problem. :D**

**-Help me out here. What do you want to happen between Zach and Cammie? **  
**-What did you think of this chapter?**  
**-What do you think of Lucas? **  
**-I really need to put Preston in this don't I? :D (Just to add some drama :D)**

**Disclaimer: All copyrights are to their rightful owners. **

**Peace**  
**Ciara XD**


	8. Partying, Partying, Yeah!

"So," Liz started. "Enough about us and our crazy friends. Do you both attend Blackthorne?"

"Actually, _I_ attend Blackthorne, Jonas is teacher there." Zach said.

"What?" Cammie and Liz asked in unison.

"Well," Jonas said uncomfortably. "Technically I'm a teacher-assistant."

"How old are you exactly?" Cammie asked slowly.

"17."

"Huh?"

"Jo-bro here is a super genius," Zach explained, ruffling his friend's hair, much to Jonas' dismay. "He graduated Blackthorne two years ago and is currently attending Harvard University, but is a part-time teacher-assistant at Blackthorne."

"That's why I saw you carrying a Blackthorne binder at the robot place," Liz exclaimed.

"Yeah," Jonas blushed.

"Wait, that's where you went?" Zach asked. "You ditched me for a robot brawl?"

Jonas laughed nervously. "Yeah?"

"Dude!"

As Liz and Cammie watched as Zach and Jonas argue about what had happened that day, Cammie felt a pair of eyes on her. She turned her head to see who was staring at her, only to find Bex's face right next to her.

"Bex!" She screamed.

"Your face," Bex laughed. "You should have seen your face!"

Next to Bex stood a laughing Macey who abruptly stopped when Cammie threw a fry at her face.

"Cam!" Macey shrieked.

"You were laughing at me!"

"I was laughing _with_ you. There's a difference."

Cammie was about to say one of her witty comebacks when Bex pulled out a chair and decided to help herself to the food.

"Bex, that's rude. You could ask," Liz scolded, her southern accent thick.

"Can I please have some?" Bex asked, her British accent rivalling Liz's southern one. She then turned to Zach and Jonas and pointed a fry at them. "You two must be the 'McHotties'."

"Pardon?" Jonas asked, looking uncomfortable.

"Never mind," Bex waved her hand dismissively. "I'm Bex. You are?"

"I'm Zach." Zach gave her that nod every guy seems to know.

"I'm Jonas," Jonas smiled at Bex.

"And I'm Macey, thanks for asking," Macey said sarcastically, bringing a chair over.

Bex rolled her eyes at Macey. "Whatever, Mace," she joked.

"Oh yeah, Bex," Cammie said. "How was your 'mission'?"

Bex's mouth immediately curved into a frown. "We lost them."

* * *

Grant and Lucas were on their way to Lucas' hotel when Lucas' cell phone rang.

"Who is it?" Grant asked, not bothering to take his eyes off the road.

"It's just my sister," Lucas said looking at the caller ID.

"You're not going to answer it a_gain_? Luc, that's the sixth time she's called you in the last hour."

"She can wait."

Grant shrugged it off and kept his eyes on the road while Lucas bore his eyes on his sister's number. It was silent for a while. It wasn't the awkward kind; instead it was a comforting silence. Then Grant's phone rang.

"Luc, can you answer that? It's probably just my mom," he said tossing his phone to Lucas.

"What if it's Nicole?" Lucas teased.

"Then you can tell her how much _you_ love her," Grant played along.

Lucas flipped the phone open. "_Tiberius_' phone, how may I help you?" He smirked.

"_Again_ with the middle name," Grant muttered from beside him, but Lucas shrugged it off.

"Hello Lucas," Jessica Newman greeted him from the other end of the phone. "Where is that son of mine?"

"He's driving."

"Can you put me on speaker?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Grant?" Jessica asked.

"Yeah, mom?"

"The director of 'Zombies' is having party tonight. I was going to call you earlier but I had to take care of some things so it slipped my mind. Do you think you can make it?" She asked. "You can bring Lucas along."

Grant gave his friend a questioning look, and Lucas gave him shrug, meaning _'Why not?'_

"Yeah, sure," Grant said. "We can make it. When and where?"

"It's at his house; you know where that is right?"

Grant nodded his head. "I mean, yes," he corrected himself after realizing that his mother couldn't see him.

"The party is at 8 o'clock and dress nicely," she finished.

"Okay, thanks mom," Grant said.

"I'll see you tonight, love you," she said.

"Love you too, mom," Grant said.

"Aw, thanks Mrs. N! Love you too!" Lucas added before ending the call.

Grant rolled his eyes at his friend. "I'm going to drop you off at the hotel and then pick you up before the party, okay?"

"Okay."

* * *

Bex sighed; frustrated with the fact that she lost Grant. Well technically, she never had him, but still. "I hate this!" She yelled, banging her head on the table in her hotel suite. "Where could he be?"

"Nothing on his Twitter?" Macey asked, looking at her nails.

"Ooh, I didn't check his Twitter," Bex said typing it up on the search engine. She quickly scanned through his recent tweets. "One of his tweets from earlier said '_Party tonight for 'Zombies' at director Steven Lancaster's place!_'"

"Steven Lancaster?" Macey asked.

"Yeah, why do you know him?" Bex asked.

"No, but I know someone who might," Macey said with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Care to enlighten me?"

"Liz, duh."

"Huh?"

"Liz is super smart, don't you think she could hack into things and find out where this Steven guy lives?"

"That's not a bad thought," Bex said thoughtfully as she tapped her chin. "Liz, where are you?"

"Yes Bex?" Liz asked, popping her head into the room.

"Do you think you can find out where Steven Lancaster lives?" Bex asked with a hopeful look on her face.

"I guess..."

"Great!" Bex beamed. She handed Liz the laptop and urged her on. "Go on Liz. Find his address."

Liz took the laptop from Bex's hands and immediately started to type vigorously on the keyboard. Bex sat next to her practically jumping for joy as she cheered Liz on. "Go Lizzie!"

Macey shook her head. "I need a snack," she muttered, before leaving the room.

::

"I got it!" Liz beamed from her seat in front of the laptop. Bex who was lying down on the floor stood up and ran over. "Here, write it down."

"Oh my goodness!" Bex screamed as she held the address in her hands as if it were a gift from heaven. "I can't believe it. I have the address!"

"What did I miss?" Cammie asked as she walked in.

"Well," Bex said, "while you were off canoodling with Mr. McHottie. Liz and I were looking up the address of the party Grant Newman is going to. And guess what?"

"What?" Macey asked, leaning against the doorway eating her cookie.

"Get dressed ladies; we're going to a Hollywood A-list party!" Bex grinned. "Oh and Cams? You can invite Mr. McHottie, just tell him to dress for the occasion. You too Liz, call up Mr. Anderson. It's party time!"

"Thanks Bex," Cammie smiled. "Oh and by the way, his last name is 'Goode'."

"Yeah, yeah," Bex waved her off, "just go get dressed."

* * *

"Sweet house!" Lucas whistled as they arrived at Steven Lancaster's home. It was a very modern house with a lot of architectural designs.

"It's not a house," Grant corrected, "it's a mansion."

"Yeah whatever," Lucas waved him off as he looked at the design of Steven's home. "There's a lot of glass, I'll give him that."

"Wait 'till you see the pool," Grant grinned.

When they entered Steven's home, the party was already in full-motion. Music was blasting through the speakers, food was being served, A-list celebrities were everywhere, and everyone seemed to be having a great time.

"There's my actor!" A voice beamed from behind them. Grant and Lucas turned to find a man who wore a black suit, and a dark grey fedora hat. Next to the man was a girl with bright blue eyes, and curly auburn hair. She wore a navy-blue dress that went just above her knee.

"Grant!" she squealed and Grant's eyes widened. "You made it!"

"Nicole," Grant laughed nervously. "Hi."

"Hello, Grant," the man, who Lucas assumed was Steven, greeted.

"Good to see you, sir," Grant said.

"Who is this?" The man asked, gesturing towards Lucas.

"This is my best friend Lucas," Grant grinned, patting Lucas' shoulder. "Lucas, this is Steven Lancaster, the director of 'Zombies'."

"Nice to meet you, sir" Lucas nodded at Steven.

Steven gave Lucas a smile before turning to Grant. "I'm glad you came. But if you'll excuse me, I have some matters to discuss with a few colleagues of mine. Come along Nicole."

Nicole turned to Grant and Lucas. "It was nice to see you again Grant, and it was nice to meet you Lucas," she said before leaving.

* * *

"You clean up well," Cammie grinned as Zach and Jonas approached them at the front gates of Steven Lancaster's home. Zach wore dark jeans, a black t-shirt, a leather jacket, and a pair of gray Nike high-tops.

"You don't look so bad yourself, Gallagher girl," Zach smirked at her, before leaning down to kiss her cheek. Cammie blushed in her blue dress that she wore with a black belt.

"Uh...guys?" Jonas cleared his throat from his spot next to Zach. He stood uncomfortably in his dress-shirt, dark pants, and grey tie.

"Jonas is right," Macey said. "Enough flirting. Let's go."

Zach rolled his eyes and took Cammie's hand while Jonas politely asked Liz if he could her hand, which Liz accepted after blushing like mad. Bex and Macey led the way to the party, holding their heads high, and walking as if they owned the place. They stopped at the front door where a tall, dark, man stood.

"Wallace?" Bex asked, recognizing the security guard that threw her out of her audition.

"Oh, it's you," Wallace said rather glumly. "Should I call for backup?"

Bex glared at him murderously. "I'm here for the party."

"Fine, name?" he asked.

"Macey McHenry," Macey said confidently.

"Sorry, Ms. McHenry, you're not on the list."

"What?" Macey hissed. "I'm _Macey McHenry_. How could I not be on the list?"

Wallace checked his clipboard, seemingly not bothered by the dirty look Macey was shooting him. "Sorry, not on the list."

"Wallace," Bex gritted her teeth. "This is the second time I've had to feel the need to strangle your sorry ass."

"Let's just make it clear that you _did_ strangle me last time," Wallace pointed out.

"Just let us in!"

"I can't," Wallace said, "I'll get fired."

Bex was fully prepared to lunge at Wallace when someone else started talking.

"Is something wrong?" A voice asked.

Everyone's attentions diverted to a woman a few years older than them with looks that could rival Macey's. Her form-fitting green dress made everyone's heads turn, her dark hair cascaded down her back, and her grey eyes were soft yet intimidating all at once.

"Sidney?" Macey gaped.

The girl turned to Macey. "Macey McHenry! My, my you're all grown up now."

Macey rolled her eyes. "Please, you're the model here."

"What's going on, Mace?" Sidney asked gesturing to her and her friends.

"We can't go in because our names aren't on the list."

"Oh, maybe I can help," Sidney said as she walked towards Wallace. "Hi, I'm Sidney Ranger. They're with me."

Wallace searched for her name. "Alright Ms. Ranger and guests, have fun."

They all entered the party; Bex who was very last to enter, stuck her tongue out at Wallace who did the same back at Bex.

"One day, Wallace," Bex whispered to Wallace. "One freaking day."

Wallace's eyes widened. _Victory at last_, she smirked.

* * *

**A/N:**  
**I finally got around to finishing this chapter, yay! I'm pretty sure this is the longest chapter I've written. I don't know. I think it is. I hope you liked it! Chapter 8 will come soon and I'm 45% sure Preston will be in it. :D Don't you just love Wallace? lol. Anyways, I'm thinking about making Grant and Bex meet in the next chapter (Who knows what those two will do). But I'm not sure because it has to work with the plot I have in mind. And I know that I suck at providing details, that's why I tried to work on that a little bit more than the other chapters. and yeah. **

**Things to review on:  
-What did you think?**  
**-I don't like school (random). do you?**

**Disclaimer: All copyrights are to their rightful owners. **

**~Ciara**


	9. Bloody Casseroles!

"Goode!" Bex hissed as she pulled Zach away from Cammie.

"Bex, what are you doing?" Cammie asked.

"Sorry Cams, I need his help," Bex gave her friend an apologetic look.

"Uh—" Zach started but was cut off by Bex.

"Not now, Goode!" Bex hissed, grabbing his arm and dragged him elsewhere.

"Um, okay," Zach replied, shooting Cammie a pleading look, but Cammie just mouthed '_I'm sorry!_'

* * *

Jonas and Liz sat uncomfortably at the large U-shaped couch in Steven's home. He cleared his throat in an attempt to get Liz's attention. But sadly, he failed.

"Liz!" he yelled over the blaring music.

"Hm?" Liz turned to face him.

"Do you want to get out of here?" He yelled, barely hearing himself speak.

"No, I don't want to drink any beer!" Liz shook her head vigorously. Just the thought of getting drunk at a party like this scared her.

"No, you misheard me! I said_, do you want to get out of here?_"

"Oh, where would we go?"

"Where do you want to go?" he yelled as the music changed to something even louder than the last. If that was even possible... He shuddered at the thought of the damage his ears will acquire if he stayed at the party any longer.

"What? You want to bear the arms of a crow? Liz yelled back. "You're not making any sense!"

"I said, _where do you want to go?_"

"I can't hear you!"

Jonas sighed exasperatedly and pulled Liz over to a quieter room in the house. He fixed his glasses properly on his face before speaking. "We're in L.A., let's do something fun."

Liz gave his idea a thought. She wasn't usually one to just leave her friends, especially not in a party like this, but tonight Liz felt like being a rebel—or as rebellious as she and Jonas could get. Let's face it, they weren't big risk takers. "Why not?"

* * *

"Nice hideout you got here. It's quiet." Macey leaned casually against the doorway.

Lucas looked up gave her a tired smile. "What do you want from me, McHenry?" He asked.

"Oh, _I_ don't want anything from _you_. However, your sister does." Macey stared at Lucas, who lazed on the couch, looking like the epitome of a slacker with the sleeves of his black dress shirt rolled to his elbows, his feet propped up on the coffee table, and his tie undone. Macey briefly scowled at the fact that he wore dark jeans instead of dress pants, but chose not to speak of it.

"I'm not in the mood to get lectured right now, McHenry."

Macey walked over to the couch and sat next to him. "Lucas, all Sidney wants is for you to come home."

Lucas turned to her, finally taking his feet off the coffee table. "Why do you even care? Last time I checked you and I weren't friends."

"Oh were not," she reassured him with a smile, "but I _am_ friends with your sisters, and I care about them."

"Yeah, well..."

"Lucas, look at me," she ordered and he obliged, looking at her expectantly with his grey eyes. "You and Sidney need to have a talk. God knows you both need it."

"Macey, you don't get it..." he said, finally using her first name rather than her last.

"What don't I get?" Macey snapped. "Lucas, I know all about family troubles. In fact, I have had enough family troubles to last me a freaking lifetime. So don't you tell me that I don't get it!"

"Macey, I didn't mean it like that."

"Just make sure you talk to your family," Macey said, feeling her voice grow softer with every word she spoke. "Because if you don't talk to them, then you'll end up losing them, and it'll be very hard to get them back."

They sat there for a while, not saying anything. Lucas locked eyes with Macey and found himself unable to pull away. This was the first time she'd ever been so nice to him, or as nice as Macey will ever be to him, but nice nonetheless. Then he did something he never would have thought about doing in a million years. He leaned forward and captured her lips with a kiss. To his surprise, she didn't fight it. Once the kiss was over he stood up, gave her a small smile, and then left, leaving a confused Macey behind.

* * *

"Bloody casseroles, is that Grant?" Bex exclaimed. Next to her a very amused Zach raised an eyebrow.

"That's him?" He asked, gesturing towards a boy in dark jeans, and a blue jacket.

"Yeah, that's him," Bex said turning to Zach. "You got a problem with that, Goode?"

Zach shrugged. "I expected a little more..."

"Well no one asked you to be here," Bex crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Actually you did," Zach pointed out. He had a very smug look on his face which annoyed Bex to no end. "You pulled me away from a very interesting conversation with Cammie. Remember?"

"Oh, right."

"Why do you need my help anyways?"

"I need you to distract while I get Grant," Bex said, "duh!"

"Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no," Zach said quickly.

"Why 'no', seven times?" Bex asked.

"I am not going to take part in your little game."

"Aw, why not?" she pouted. "I'm sure Cam would really appreciate it."

"What do you want me to do?" Zach said, knowing full well that he would regret this later on, but it was for Cammie. It was for the sake of getting in her friend's good graces.

"Don't worry; you'll be with Cam on this one. So here's the plan," she said with a smirk.

* * *

Preston took a shaky step towards a dancing crowd. He'd been drinking too much and he knew it. He had been invited to attend Steven Lancaster's party since his dad was a Senator and all and his publicist said that it would be great for publicity. To be completely honest, Preston didn't want to come to the party. Instead he wanted to spend his time in the safety of his own home. He took another shaky step before he bumped into someone.

"Macey?" Preston gaped at the girl in front of him. She had jet-black hair, bright blue eyes, and a diamond nose stud.

"I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong person," Macey lied as she felt a twinge of panic set in. She hadn't seen Preston since the campaign and she really didn't want to deal with him right now. Not after what happened with Lucas. She mentally cursed herself. Macey McHenry does not panic. Ever. Nor does Macey McHenry get confused about boys. It just wasn't possible. Not until now.

"Are you sure?" Preston asked. He had a look on his face as if he were calculating a very complicated math problem.

"Yes, I'm sure," Macey said making a run for it. "I have to go."

"Wait!" Preston yelled after her. "You look like Macey!"

"Sir?" his bodyguard's voice rang in his ears. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Jim!" Preston yelled over the music. "But I saw Macey!"

"Right and I saw Chuck Norris," Jim said with a roll of his eyes. "Sir, Macey is at school. She's staying there for the entire spring break, remember?"

Preston shook his head. "Nuh uh. Macey is here, I saw her!" he insisted.

"Okay, okay," Jim said raising his hands above his head, "whatever you say."

Preston sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He made his way to the bar and ordered yet another drink. He sat down on a stool and buried his face in his hands. He knew for sure that he saw Macey, but he couldn't help but get the feeling he's slightly off-in-the-head. Maybe it was from all the drinks he's had, he wasn't used to drinking too much. He took a glance at the Spider-Man watch around his wrist, and watched as Spider-Man started to dance. Either he was very drunk or he really _was_ hallucinating. He hoped for the former.

* * *

**A/N:**  
**Let me make this quick. **

**Things to review on (if you are going to review, which you should!):**  
**-How was this chapter? What did you think?**  
**-Bex and Zach are teaming up. That can't end well :P**  
**-Preston getting drunk? He's at a party, so chill, and it's not like he actually _wanted_ to go to the party.**  
**-Does anyone know what Preston looks like? **

**Disclaimer: All copyrights are to their rightful owners. **

**~Ciara**


	10. Of Missions, Caviars, and Weddings

_ Mission: Get Grant Newman _

_ Mission made by: Rebecca Baxter. _

_ Operatives: Rebecca Baxter, Zachary Goode, and Cameron Morgan (hereafter referred to "The Operatives").  
_

_ The Operatives (Zachary Goode and Cameron Morgan) will distract the auburn-haired girl, who is incredibly clingy, away from The Subject (Grant Newman). The Operative (Rebecca Baxter) will then make a move towards The Subject and proceed to do as she originally planned._

* * *

"You wrote up a plan?" Zach asked as he looked up from the piece of white paper he held in his hands.

Bex shrugged. "A girl has to play her part."

"What part?"

Bex gave Zach a menacing glare. "I don't need your smart-ass remarks right now, Goode."

"Guys, can we please just get on with the plan?" Cammie interjected herself into the conversation.

Bex huffed. "Fine, whatever. You two know what to do right?"

"We know," Zach rolled his eyes and took Cammie by the arm before making their way to the auburn-haired girl, leaving Bex standing alone.

"Bring it on Grant Newman," Bex said to nobody in particular.

* * *

Grant silently cursed Lucas for ditching him. Now here he was stuck with Nicole Lancaster. _Damn you Lucas!_ He thought.

"So what do you think of the party?" Nicole gripped his arm for dear life.

"It's great," replied Grant.

"I know right?" Nicole exclaimed. "I mean, everyone here is either amazingly famous or excruciatingly rich."

"Excruciating?" Grant asked slowly.

"Well, yeah."

Grant sighed as Nicole dragged him around the party. Sober bystanders would give him sympathetic looks and the wasted ones would laugh in his face. Literally. Nicole continued to tell him about the making of the swimming pool when they bumped into someone, causing Nicole to abruptly stop talking. _Thank God!_ Grant silently prayed.

"I'm sorry!" A girl apologized. She had light-brown hair, and bright green eyes. Next to her was a boy about Grant's age. "We didn't see you there."

"It's okay!" Grant reassured them.

"Ugh. My dress, it's ruined!" Nicole stared down at her dress. Grant stared too, but didn't see anything wrong with it.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Here let me help you with that," she said, dragging Nicole off elsewhere.

"I'm Zach," the boy nodded at him.

"I'm Grant," he introduced himself as he stood awkwardly by the pool.

"See you 'round," Zach said before leaving.

Grant shook his head. "I need a drink," Grant muttered to himself. He whipped around towards the direction of the bar and automatically bumped into someone, sending that person crashing into the pool.

"Oh shit," Grant swore. He looked over at the unfortunate being he had bumped into and noticed it was a girl. He also noticed that she must have hit her head because she was passed out. "Damn it!"

Now, Grant wasn't a horrible person. He knew right from wrong. And at this moment, he knew that the right thing to do was to help the poor girl he had knocked into the pool. So he took off his jacket and jumped after her.

* * *

"You went to a _Hannah Montana_ concert?" Liz asked flabbergasted. She and Jonas were currently sitting at a restaurant, eating their dinner.

"In my defense," Jonas said, "my mom made me go. My little sister Sage wanted to go, and my mom was busy, so I had to take her."

"Okay," Liz laughed.

"Hey don't make fun!"

"I'm not making fun of you," Liz smiled. "I was actually a really big fan of Hannah Montana."

"Was?"

"I grew up, she grew up."

"Oh, she grew up all right," Jonas said fixing his glasses on his face.

"Everyone has to, one way or another."

"Amen to that," Jonas raised his glass for a toast.

Liz laughed, which Jonas found that he enjoyed. He laugh seemed so natural, unlike most of the girls Zach set him up with. "Cheers to that!" Liz said as their glasses clinked.

* * *

"Preston!" Macey shook a drunken Preston awake.

"Huh?" Preston rubbed his caviar-filled eyes. "What the—"

"You passed out on your caviar," Macey said. Preston stared at her blankly before his eyes widened.

"Macey!" he exclaimed, rushing over to give her a hug. Macey winced as caviar got in her hair. "It_ is_ you! I'm not delusional!"

"No, I guess you're not. You're just wasted."

"Where is Jim?" Preston asked, looking around.

"He's out on the dance floor. He's quite the dancer." Macey gestured towards a crowd cheering Jim's name.

Preston shook his head in amusement. "What time is it?" he asked.

* * *

"You wanted to see me?" Lucas asked, leaning casually against the door frame of the room.

"Lucas!" Sidney exclaimed, rushing over to hug her younger brother.

Lucas rolled his eyes but returned the embrace.

"Let's go outside, it's too loud to talk in here," Sidney said.

::

"How's Damon?" Lucas asked in an attempt to make small talk as they walked around the perimeter of the Lancaster mansion.

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about," Sidney said, feeling nervousness set in.

Lucas shot his sister a concerned look. _Grant's right,_ he told himself,_ family is family and nothing can change __that_. "Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah!" she reassured him. "Everything's fine. More the fine actually."

"So?" Lucas asked slowly.

"Damon proposed," Sidney said quickly, "and I said 'yes'."

"Sid, that's great!" Lucas said giving his sister a hug.

"And I want you to be there with me."

"What?"

"Well, with dad gone..." she trailed off. "Lucas, promise me you'll attend."

"Sid— "

"At least attend for me."

Lucas sighed. It's been a long time since he'd seen any of his other relatives and he's not sure if he's still welcome back. But Sidney meant a lot to him. She is his sister after all. "Okay, I promise."

* * *

"Is she dead?" a voice asked.

"Sorry to disappoint Mr. Negative," Grant said sarcastically as he carried the girl in his arms, "but she's alive."

"Where are you taking her?" a different voice asked.

"Well I don't really know what to do so—"

"You're going to throw her in the dumpster?" another voice yelled in outrage.

"Absolutely not!" Grant yelled. "I'm taking her to the hospital. If that's even any of your business."

"Wallace!" Grant called for his bodyguard.

"Yes?" Wallace appeared.

"Come help me, I need to get this girl to the hospital," Grant said.

Wallace took a closer look at the girl. His eyes widened at the realization of who it was, but Grant failed to notice since he was too busy adjusting the girl so that he was carrying her in a way that is comfortable for them both.

"Oh, this isn't good," Wallace muttered.

* * *

**A/N:**  
**Since I didn't have school, I decided I would update :D And I hope you liked it. **

**I know that most of you aren't really Hunger Games readers, but I would highly recommend you reading "Dear Diary" by Amelia Letter. It's very well written and you should go read it! Amelia Letter, you are an awesome writer, so you should update sometime! XD **

**Thanks for those who reviewed the last chapter! Things to review on this chapter:**

**-What did you think?  
****-Any idea who the girl might be? I'm pretty sure you know.  
****-Any grammar mistakes? Let me know.**

**Disclaimer: All copyrights are to their rightful owners. **

**~Ciara**


	11. Duct Tape and Zip Ties

Bex squinted as a tall, tan-skinned man held a flashlight in front of her. "Follow the light with your eyes," he instructed. The man wore blue scrubs and a stethoscope around his neck. And from what Bex could tell, he was Hispanic.

"How is she, Alejandro?" said a voice.

Bex turned her head towards the direction of the voice and came face-to-face with none other than, Grant Newman. "Do you know each other?"

"Yeah, he's my cousin's fiancée," Grant explained and Bex nodded.

"She's fine," Alejandro said, handing her an icepack, which she gladly took.

"And soaking wet," Bex muttered, looking at her clothes, which were now sticking to her skin.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Grant apologized sheepishly. "You kind of fell into the pool."

"No kidding," Bex muttered sarcastically.

"Grant, just take her home, get her dried up, and keep that icepack on her head. She'll be fine," Alejandro instructed.

"Yeah," Grant said, pulling Bex up. "I will. Thanks!

"Oh and Grant?" Alejandro said.

"Yeah?"

"There are big guys with cameras in the waiting room," Alejandro said. "Get them out!"

Grant gave a frustrated sigh. "They found me?"

"It appears so," Alejandro said absentmindedly.

"Alejandro, what kind of car do you drive?"

Alejandro raised an eyebrow. "Nothing good," he said slowly. "I'm still paying off medical school. Why?"

A smile tugged at Grant's lips. "How about a trade?" He held up the keys to his Porsche.

::

"Where are you taking me?" an irritated Bex asked. A series of thoughts flooded her mind. _This wasn't the plan_, she thought. _Great. I'm just going to have to improvise._

"I'm taking you to my place," Grant replied in a polite tone, which Bex had to fight the urge to roll her eyes at. A part of Bex really didn't want to go to his house. After all, he is The Enemy. However, another part of her _really _wanted to defeat Grant Newman in his home turf.

"Fine," she said.

::

"Well, here we are," said Grant as he pushed open the door to his mansion. Bex rolled her eyes at the pride in his voice, though she was taken aback by the slight nervousness it held.

"It's," she started, taking in her surroundings. It had high ceilings, hardwood floors, a very impressive looking chandelier, and a grand staircase, "fancy."

"Thanks?"

"You're welcome!" she replied before they fell into a very awkward silence. _This plan is going to be harder than I thought_, she thought.

* * *

"Macey!" Cammie ran towards the blue-eyed heiress, her hands pulling on Zach's who was right behind her. "Have you seen Bex?"

"No," Macey said slowly. "I thought she was with you two."

"She _was_," Zach interjected causing Macey to eye their laced hands, though she left it alone. She'd have to talk to Cam about it later.

"Yeah," Cammie said. "But we haven't seen her since The Mission, and that was a little over two hours ago."

"Have you checked her phone?" Preston said, who Cammie didn't notice was there until he spoke. "Hi Cammie, I haven't seen you since the campaign."

"Hi Preston, it's been a while," Cammie greeted. "And yes I have checked her phone, but she's not answering."

"Wait, what mission?" Macey asked.

"Well, it's kind of a long story," Cammie said sheepishly.

"Short version please," Macey said.

And that was how Cammie and Zach ended up summarizing everything for Macey and Preston. From the making of The Mission, to the last known person Bex was with. Grant Newman.

"Wow, that's," Macey started, "the most ingenious plan I have ever heard! Until the we-can't-find-Bex part."

"Well do you have any idea where Grant and Bex are?" Zach asked.

"No," Macey said slowly, "but I think I have an idea on who might."

::

**Liz, we can't find Bex. Macey has an idea of where she might be. I'll text you the info later.**

Cammie read over the text once again before hitting send.

**Kay, Kay. Do you need me to meet you and Mace? **

Cammie read Liz's reply before typing up her own.

**No, you don't have to. Enjoy your night with Jonas :D I'll text you if we need your help though.**

Cammie's cell phone's text tone rang.

**Kay, kay :D**

* * *

A man with bright red hair smirked as he watched the two soaking wet teenager enter the house from across the street. "He's making this _way_ too easy for us," he murmured.

"The target has entered the house, just as predicted," a voice said in his ear-piece. "However there is someone else with The Target."

"We didn't plan on there being someone else," a different voice protested.

"Well, you know what they say," the man with the red hair smiled, being the epitome of calmness. "The more the merrier."

* * *

"Macey, what are we doing back at the..." Cammie trailed off, realizing just where Macey was headed.

Macey, who was being Macey, banged on the door labelled 'Presidential Suite' without even considering what the person inside might be doing. The door opened mid-knock, causing Macey's fist to collide with Lucas' chest.

"Can I help you?" Lucas rubbed his eyes. His hair was dishevelled and his clothes were rumpled, but Macey didn't care, she just pushed her way into the room.

"Come right in," Lucas said sarcastically, though he did move out of the way, giving Macey's companions a chance to enter the room. Lucas turned to Macey and raised his eyebrows.

"It's 1 in the morning. What could you possibly want? Lucas asked.

::

"So let me get this straight," Lucas said. "Your friend is missing and you think Grant has her?"

"Yeah pretty much," Cammie said.

Lucas sighed. "It's way too early for me to care. I need coffee."

"Make that two!" Preston yelled. "My head is pounding."

Lucas stopped dead on his tracks and turned to Preston. "Who _are_ you?"

"I'm Preston Winters," Preston introduced with a smile. Though he looked more like a creeper, considering he was intoxicated—or as intoxicated as Preston can get.

"No, I know that," Lucas waved his hand dismissively. "I'm not an idiot. I meant who are you to them?"

"I am Macey's," Preston trailed off, not really knowing what he is to Macey. Sure, they kissed in the train, but he wasn't sure if he could officially call himself Macey's beau.

"You are Macey's boyfriend?" Lucas guessed.

"She's my girlfriend?"

"You never said you had a boyfriend," Lucas turned to Macey.

"I don't have one!" Macey exclaimed.

Lucas stared blankly at them. "...so who is he?" Lucas asked slowly.

"He's my—I—he's—" Macey stammered, which was very unlike her. "Just go get your stupid coffee, and make it three!"

Lucas shook his head. "Women..." he muttered as he walked over to the phone to call room service.

* * *

"Are you okay?" Grant knocked on the bathroom door. "And do they fit?"

"I'm fine!" the girl replied. "And they fit!"

"You know, I never got your name," Grant said.

"I'm Bex! I know who you are, so don't bother explaining."

Grant sighed. "I was just trying to be polite," he said mockingly, hoping Bex didn't hear, but unfortunately luck really wasn't on his side.

"I heard that!" Bex shrieked making Grant wince. She emerged from that bathroom wearing the clothes Grant had given her so she could dry off. She had a sour look on her face which made Grant want to run away screaming like a little girl.

Grant cleared his throat, breaking the awkward silence. "I'm going to go get some sleep; you can stay here in the guest bedroom."

Bex stared at him blankly. "You're really going to let some stranger stay at your house while you sleep?" she asked.

"Well what do you expect me to do?"

Bex sighed. "Whatever, I'll see you when you wake up," she said as Grant left the room. Bex smiled to herself, "okay, I'm going to need duct tape and zip ties," she said to nobody in particular.

* * *

**A/N:**

**So that's that. I hope you liked this chapter. And while I'm at it, who watched Lemonade Mouth? (I just can't get enough of those DCOM's. It's my guilty pleasure.) Who watches The Voice? If you don't, you should go watch it. It's awesome. **

**-What did you think?  
****-Oh damn, Bex is up to something. What do you think it is?  
****-Mystery POV over there. Who do you think is the man with the bright red hair? Ron Weasley? Nah man.  
****-Any grammatical mistakes?I appreciate constructive criticism.  
****-What's your guilty pleasure? hehe.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not Ally Carter, yo. (All copyrights are to their rightful owners.)**

**Peace,**  
**Ciara :D**


	12. I Don't Like Labels

**AN: **

**Disclaimer: Disclaimed**

* * *

Grant woke up in a _very_ dark room that he did not recognize. He could hear a faint rustling behind him but he still didn't know where he was. He knew for a fact that he went to bed the night before—or whatever time it was, he didn't even know time it is right now—and couldn't help but wonder if this was all a dream. It wouldn't surprise him; he once had a dream where he was running from a giant hamburger, wearing nothing but a pair of red cowboy boots. He shuddered at the thought.

The faint rustling began to increase in volume and Grant knew that this was not a dream and that he was in fact in deep shit. The lights turned on and Grant had to squint to see where he was. He was in his bedroom—thank goodness! He could tell from the navy blue walls, the Batman clock he got on his tenth birthday, the grey and white sheets on his bed, and the huge gaping hole on wall that he never bothered to get fixed—a result of playing bowling indoors with Lucas back when they were 13-years-old. He sighed, got up from his chair and found himself silently cursing gravity as his face met the hardwood floor. That was when he realized he was _tied_ to the chair.

"I'm tied to the chair," he said to no one in particular.

"And observant," said a weirdly familiar voice. He knew that voice, but Grant couldn't quite place it to the correct person_. Who do I know with an English accent?_ he thought. "I told you not to leave strangers in your house while you sleep," said the voice. "But did you listen to me? _No_. You slept, and now you're tied to a chair."

"I am?" Grant said sarcastically. "I couldn't tell if it really was—wait, is that you Bex?"

"_Ding, ding ding_!" she said, as she came into Grant's view. Grant couldn't help but notice how _hot_ she was. _Why didn't I see it before?_ "You're right again, you're on a roll!"

Grant rolled his eyes. "Can you just untie me?"

Grant watched for a while as Bex pondered over the decision. "What's the magic word?"

"Please?"

"Hmm," she said, tapping her chin as she seemed to be studying him. Grant couldn't help but feel the need to hide from her gaze. "Nah, I'm good."

"Wait, you're just going leave me here?"

"Aren't you smart?" Bex said mockingly as she ruffled his hair.

"Wait you can't just leave me here!" Grant tried to reason with her. "What have I ever done to you?"

"That's for me to know," Bex said, "and for you to find out."

"What do you want from me?" Grant yelled. "You know, you could have just talked to me. You didn't have to tie me up."

"Well if you must know," Bex said," I was originally going to talk to you in a civil manner but then you pushed me into the pool!"

"It was an accident!"

"Accident my butt!"

"What do you want?" Grant asked.

"Well I was going to talk to you about letting me audition," Bex said.

"Then why didn't you just come in on the day of the audition?" Grant asked, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"I did," Bex said, rolling her eyes at the blond. "But Wallace wouldn't let me in!"

"Wait, that was you?" Grant exclaimed, remembering the story Wallace told him about some girl attacking him.

"What?"

"That crazy chick that attacked Wallace," Grant said.

Bex gave a small scowl, "I don't like labels."

* * *

"I still don't see why we can't just go in the house," said a woman with pale blond hair and striking green eyes. She was about five foot eight and was around nineteen.

"Danielle, we've talked about this," the red headed man said. He looked to be around twenty-five and had bright blue eyes and fiery red hair. "We need a plan, especially since that girl came along."

"Yeah, Danielle!" said a boy with light brown hair, brown eyes, and a missing eyebrow. He was about sixteen and was obviously the youngest of the trio.

"Get a life, Jeremy!" Danielle snapped. "At least I'm not the one with only one eyebrow."

"It was an accident!" Jeremy yelled defensively, holding a hand up to where his right eyebrow should be.

"Quiet, you two!" the red headed one snapped, looking over the blueprints for their mission. "I don't want to fail this assignment, yet again because of you two!"

"He started it," Danielle muttered.

"I don't give a flying rat's nest on who started it, Danielle," said the man with the red hair. "Just go scope out the place and then make sure that no one gets in or out of the Newman house. Then signal us when the coast is clear."

"Okay, Marko," Danielle said, walking off.

* * *

"So will you help us?" Macey asked Lucas, who was sitting on couch drinking coffee and eating a bagel. Lucas seemed to ponder over the decision. They were all silent for a while as they waited for Lucas' response—well, Macey, Cammie, and Zach were. Preston was sleeping.

"Sure," Lucas said finally. "Sounds fun."

"Good," Macey clapped her hands together. "We should go soon," she said, getting up from her seat on the couch.

"Uh, Mace?" Cammie asked.

"Yeah?" Macey tilted her head.

"What about him?" Cammie asked, jerking her thumb over at a snoring Preston. "He looks really wasted."

"You can leave him here," Lucas said.

"Then it's settled," Macey smiled.

"Yeah, we should go," Zach said, grabbing his jacket off the floor.

The four teens grabbed their things and headed out the door, leaving a passed out Preston behind. Next destination, Grant Newman's house.

* * *

"Crap, that hurts like hell!" Grant complained for the tenth time. "What are you even doing?"

"You asked me to untie you, so this is me untying you," Bex said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Does it involve constantly jabbing me with scissors?" Grant asked sarcastically.

"Nope," Bex said, popping the 'p'. "But it's more fun that way."

"Ouch!" Grant yelled as he felt something dig into his skin. Soon he felt something liquid-y in his hands.

Bex gave a nervous laugh. "Sorry about that. Anyways, you are free to go as long as you promise to let me audition."

"You can audition!" Grant said quickly. "Just get me a band aid."

"Okay, okay," Bex said, "such a diva."

"Hey!" Grant yelled defensively as Bex left for the bathroom. He sat patiently on his bed, eying the cut on his palm. _I'm not a diva,_ he thought. After a while of sitting along in his bedroom, he started to wonder where Bex had gone.

"Bex?" he called out, but there was no reply. He called her name again, and again, and again. He was about to get up to find her when a hand covered his mouth.

"You make a sound and the girl dies," the voice whispered in his ear, and then Grant received that same feeling he got earlier. That feeling that told him he was deep, _deep_, shit.

* * *

**I hope you liked this chapter.**

**Can you please review? Pretty please with cherry on top? (I don't really like cherry, but whatever)**

**-What did you think?  
****-Care to guess what I'm planning here?  
****-Sorry if there are any grammar mistakes. I was in a rush when I wrote this, and I had to update before I forgot.  
****-Any ideas on the next chapter?**

**Peace,**  
**Ciara**


	13. Two Can Play This Game

**AN: Sorry for the slow update, I was busy this weekend and I couldn't update :( Anyways here is the 12th chapter, please know that I have a very colourful use of language, so just be aware. hehe. **

**Disclaimer: All copyrights are to their rightful owners.**

* * *

"It's locked," Cammie said, as she shook the door knob. The four of them stood outside Grant's mansion and Lucas forgot that he didn't have any keys.

"No shit, Sherlock," Lucas said sarcastically as he leaned casually against one of the porch columns. Grant's house was a modern-looking house with a slight Ancient Greek feel to it. Cammie was impressed.

"You're one to talk, _Mister-I-forgot-Grant-didn't-give-me-a-key-to-his-house_!" Macey snapped. She's been very snappy lately, Cammie noted. Maybe it was because Bex was with _The Enemy_, or maybe it was because of Lucas' presence. Either way, Cammie will have to talk to Macey later.

Zach sighed. "Move over," he said, gently pushing Cammie out of the way. He then moved over to Macey and proceeded to pull a bobby pin from her hair.

"What do you think you're doing?" Macey asked. "You are _not_ breaking into his house!"

"Well, I don't see you coming up with a better idea," Zach said as he worked on the door knob.

"I can't believe you know how to pick a lock," Macey muttered, fixing her hair, "You're father must be proud."

Zach smirked, opening the door. "Who do you think taught me?"

::

"That's Grant's room," Lucas said pointing to the very last door on their right.

"Go open it," Macey instructed. Lucas rolled his eyes but obliged. He turned the door knob and was faced with a huge mess. The TV was smashed, clothes were strewn on the floor, the hole on Grant's wall seemed to have gotten bigger, and Grant's favourite Batman clock was smashed into pieces. "What the hell?"

"What is it?" Macey asked, walking over to the room. Her eyes studied the room. "Is he normally like this?"

Lucas shook his head and walked in the room, Macey, Zach, and Cammie right behind him. They looked around the room more thoroughly, but after finding nothing, Lucas and Macey decided they would elsewhere the house while Zach and Cammie continued to search the room.

Cammie sighed, picking the broken Batman clock off the floor. "Sorry about this," she said.

"About what?" Zach raised an eyebrow.

"About getting you involved in all this," Cammie said, gesturing around her.

Zach laughed. "You haven't met my ex-girlfriend then," he said in a joking manner. "Now _she_ was a piece of work!"

Cammie rolled her eyes and threw pillow at Zach's head, which he caught. "Throwing pillows now, are we? How cliché of you."

Cammie rolled her eyes and turned away from him. She rummaged through the pile of clothes on the floor when something caught her eye. It was a white piece of paper that was folded in half. She picked it up and held it up to examine it more closely. She opened it and her eyes immediately widened.

**P**a_**y**_ _u_**p** _o__**r**_ **b**o_t_**h** _S_u**p**_e__**r**_s**t**_a__**r**_ _a__**n**_d **T**_**h**_e **G**_**i**_r_**l**_ **d**_i__**e**_.

* * *

Grant woke up to the sound of yelling. He opened his eyes to find that he was in a van. His hands were tied behind his back and his neck hurt like hell. In front of him was Bex. She was yelling profanities towards the driver—who Grant did not know.

"Stupid audition!" she ranted on. "I only wanted _one_ bloody audition, and this is what I get. Tied up in a freaking van headed to who-knows-where! I _cannot_ believe this! I could be shopping right now!"

As if sensing his eyes on her, Bex turned her head to Grant and her eyes narrowed. "And _you!_"

Grant winced as Bex's murderous glare intensified. He felt as if her gaze was burning a hole through his face, it probably was. "What?" he asked, feigning innocence. Which only made Bex's glare even more viscous than it was.

"This is all _your_ fault, you git!" she shrieked. "_You_ are the reason I came to Los Angeles! _You_ are the reason I fell into the pool! _You_ are the reason I am getting fucking kidnapped!"

"Oh, come on!" Grant said in a tone which he hoped didn't sound as scared as he actually was. Because to be completely honest, an angry Bex can make Grant pee in his pants and then run away screaming like a little girl. And he only met her the other day, so that's a lot of fear. "It's not like I planned this! I didn't plan on getting tied up in a van with the same crazy chick that attacked my bodyguard!"

This seemed to enrage Bex even more than she already was. Her eyes flickered dangerously and Grant took a cautious scoot away from her. Bex huffed and leaned against the van walls, trying to sit in a comfortable position as the van twisted and turned. Grant watched as Bex calmed herself down. Her cappuccino skin glowing even more than it usually did, her caramel-coloured eyes seemed tired, and her hair looked like a bird's nest. She looked _extremely_ sexy when she's angry, Grant noted. A British bombshell she was.

* * *

"Find anything?" Lucas asked, approaching Macey who was looking around the kitchen.

"This door looks like it's been kicked open," Macey said, gesturing to the broken lock.

"Ooh, a break-in. I like it," Lucas commented.

Macey gave Lucas a look of disbelief. "Your best friend's house has just been breaken into and you _like_ it?"

"Broken," Lucas corrected.

"What?"

"You said "breaken" it's "_broken_". How could you not know that? Don't you go to Gallagher Academy?"

"I _do_ go to Gallagher, you _ass_! And it was a simple mistake, gosh!"

"I was just saying," he mumbled.

"Whatever."

"So how'd you and your boyfriend meet?"

"Preston is not my boyfriend," Macey stated.

"Oh, but he wishes he was," Lucas turned to smirk at her.

Macey gave him a glare. "What are you talking about?" she asked, feigning stupid.

"Have you seen the way he looks at you?" Lucas said, making his way upstairs, where Cammie and Zach were. Macey followed. "He practically worships the very ground you walk on."

"Jealous?" Macey taunted.

Lucas abruptly stopped. He placed a hand on the banister, and turned to look at Macey. He smirked; he was in the mood to play along, after all, two can play this game. "So what if I was?"

"Good," Macey said quickly.

"Good," Lucas retorted.

"Fine," Macey countered.

"Fine," Lucas countered back.

"Fine!" Macey said snootily, walking ahead.

Lucas laughed, catching up to her. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her back. "By the way," he whispered huskily in her ear causing Macey's breath to hitch. He smirked. "I was jealous, I mean who wouldn't _love_ to have someone worship the very ground they walk on."

Macey turned and slapped his shoulder. "Get a life, Lucas!"

"You liked it," he teased, walking away.

* * *

**Short chapter... I'm sorry. **

**-What did you think?  
****-Sorry if there are grammar mistakes, I was rushed. Are there any?  
****-Okay, seriously. Lucas VS Preston (for Macey) or should they just ditch Macey and get together? haha kidding.**

**Ciara**


	14. Sparkle You To Death

**AN: ****I know that most of you are not Percy Jackson fans unlike I am, you probably aren't Heroes of Olympus fans either, but you should really check out my collab story with the ever-so-awkward Amelia Letter ;) It's called ****_The Argo _****_II_, ****it's freaking epic and it's on Amelia's account.**

** Disclaimer: All copyrights are to their rightful owners.**

* * *

Grant gave a grunt as he was thrown into a dark room. And no, this time Bex wasn't the culprit. Grant felt his lips curl into a pout, but then quickly wiped it off when he realized just how stupid he must look. Since it was too dark to see, Grant decided to crawl on the cold ground.

"Ouch!" Grant exclaimed as his hand came in contact with something sharp. As he pulled the sharp object—his best guess was a nail—out of his palm, he couldn't help but remember the time he and Lucas played hide and seek blindfolded. Don't judge, they were ten. He ended up with a sprained ankle after tripping down the stairs and Lucas ended up soaking wet in the swimming pool in the backyard.

After searching the room, Grant concluded that he was indeed alone. He sighed, and sat on the stone floor. He was leaning against the wall when a thought hit him. _Where is Bex?_ He hadn't seen her since the van, and he didn't know whether to be worried or relieved. He was about to choose the latter when he heard a scream.

* * *

Zach watched as Cammie's eyes widened and her jaw fell to the floor. His eyebrows furrowed with confusion and he moved to read over her shoulders.

**P**a_**y**_ _u_**p** _o__**r**_ **b**o_t_**h** _S_u**p**_e__**r**_s**t**_a__**r**_ _a__**n**_d **T**_**h**_e **G**_**i**_r_**l**_ **d**_i__**e**_.

Zach read the note and opened his mouth to say something when the door opened. It was Macey and Lucas. Macey had an annoyed look on her face and Lucas looked amused. Zach motioned for them to come and the two obliged. Zach watched as Lucas and Macey read the letter, Macey looked pissed off and the _I-don't give-a-fuck_ look Lucas usually wore, drained from his face.

Macey and Lucas shared a knowing look. "Grant what have you done now?" Lucas muttered.

They were quiet for a while. Macey and Cammie sat on Grant's bed talking, Zach sat on the office chair by Grant's desk, and Lucas leaned casually against the door frame of the room. Zach cleared his throat, being the first to break the silence, "What do we do?"

"I think we should call Liz," Macey said. "She'd know what to do."

"I agree with Macey," Cammie said.

"Yeah, sure," Lucas said absentmindedly.

"I'll text her," Cammie said, pulling out her phone.

* * *

"Wow, that movie lasted longer than I thought," Jonas yawned. He and Liz were currently sitting in a cab when Liz's cell phone's text tone rang. She pulled out her phone and quickly read the message.

**Meet us at the hotel: Presidential Suite. Bring Jonas. Bex is in trouble. **

Liz felt panic set in after re-reading the message for at least five times. Jonas gave her a worried look, but she dismissed it telling him that she'll explain later. She quickly asked the cab driver if he could drive faster, who then muttered something about quote "bossy teenagers nowadays" unquote. She looked out the window, and wondered what Bex had done to get everyone all worked-up.

::

They arrived at the hotel and Liz quickly made a run for the elevator, leaving Jonas to pay for the fare. Only a few steps away from the front door, Liz found herself tripping. On a flat surface!

"Oopsy daisies," Liz muttered, after noticing the "wet floor" sign, which she had failed to notice earlier.

"Are you okay?" Jonas rushed over to her side, almost tripping on the process, and reached out a hand to Liz.

"I'm just fine," Liz said softly, her eyes wandering elsewhere: the elevator. "C'mon!"

The elevator dinged open and Liz turned to run down the hallway. Jonas, who was clueless to the situation, ran after her. She came to a halt in front of a door labelled 'Presidential Suite' with Jonas panting behind her. "Need— my" Jonas gasped in between words, "—inhaler!"

Liz shot him an apologetic look, she knew it was very out-of-character of her to suddenly run around in hotels, but Bex was in trouble! She knocked on the door, which was immediately opened by a tired looking Macey.

"Hi, Lizzie," Macey said tiredly, holding the door open for both Jonas and Liz.

"Hi Macey!" Liz said, feeling quite fidgety. She entered the suite, pulling Jonas along, and was automatically hit with the aromatic smell of coffee. Music was playing in the background; Liz recognized the song as _Miss Independent_ by Ne-Yo. With that, Liz concluded that it was Macey's iPod playing. To her left lay the sleeping form of Preston Winters. His dirty blonde hair was in his face and his Spider-Man wrist watch was on the coffee table in front of him. To her right were Cammie and Zach sitting at the dinner table, drinking coffee and talking. And in front of her emerged a fresh looking Lucas, Liz assumed he took a shower.

"So what's the plan?" Lucas asked. All of a sudden everyone started to talk all at once about what they think should happen. Jonas, who still didn't know what was happening—much to his dismay—decided to silence everyone with a question.

"Can somebody please tell me what is going on?" he yelled.

"We think Bex and Grant have been kidnapped," Zach said bluntly.

"Oh."

"Yeah," Zach said, as they all fall into silence.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by the sound of Preston screaming for his life, "No!" he yelled, jolting awake. He looked around the room, to find everyone looking at him strangely. "There was—there was a bunny—a bunny monster," he explained sheepishly.

* * *

"Let me out of here!" Bex screamed, hitting the door as hard as she can. Bex was in a dimly-lit room with a table and two chairs on either sides of it. Above the table was a single light bulb, which was the room's only source of light—not that it was very good.

Suddenly, the door opened and a tall, beautiful about a year or so older than Bex walked in. She had pale blonde hair, green eyes, and an annoyed look on her face. "Would you _shut-up_ in here?" she snapped.

"Let me out of here!" Bex shrieked. To an innocent bystander she might have looked like a maniac, though technically she was. "What did I ever do to you?"

"_You_," she said slowly, as she walked around the tiny room, "associated with Grant Newman."

"So?"

"So?" the girl mocked Bex. She took a seat in one of the chairs. "Our—How do I say this? Our group has an unsettled problem with the Newman family, and you're going to help us."

"Why would I help you? I don't even know you!" Bex exclaimed.

"Oh right," the girl said. "I forgot my manners. I'm Danielle, Danielle Montgomery. No need to introduce who _you_ are, _Rebecca._"

"I prefer Bex," Bex said through gritted teeth. "And where am I? What is this place? What is your group—"

"Okay, okay, calm down," Danielle said calmly. "You are still in Los Angeles, you are at Headquarters, and _we_ are the Circle of Cavan."

"Circle of Cavan?" Bex asked dryly. "What is this pre-school? Couldn't you have come up with something less...lame?"

Danielle glared at her, but chose to ignore her remarks, instead she jabbed her thumb towards the other chair across from her. "Sit."

Bex slowly stood up and took a cautious seat across from Danielle. There was something about Danielle that irked her. She just wasn't sure what. "So are you in or what?" Danielle asked.

* * *

"What do you want from me?" Grant spat as a man pushed him out of the room he was originally placed in. The man had bright red hair and startling blue eyes. He held a gun to Grant's head, which prevented Grant from doing anything that involved running away.

"Keep walking!" the man ordered. He took Grant into a room, much brighter than the previous one. In fact this room was so bright; Grant had to squint to see what it looked like. It was a small room with white walls and white floors. In the middle was a single table with three chairs around it. And in one corner of the room, was a camera.

"Will you answer my question now?" Grant asked sarcastically, as he took a seat in one of the chairs.

"Well, well, well," said a new voice. It was definitely a man, "if it isn't the youngest of the Newman clan."

"Clan?" Grant scoffed. "What is this Twilight? Because really I'd prefer to be Edward. You know, so I could sparkle you to death."

"Don't get cocky, boy," the red headed man warned.

"Let him, Marko," said the man. He had greying black hair and eyes that were the colour of obsidian. He wore a black suit and he carried a cane with him. "Let him be as cocky as his father."

Grant's ears perked at the word 'father'. He hadn't seen his dad since he left him and his mom when he was six. _What does my dad have to do with anything?_ "What about my father?" Grant asked quietly.

"Oh, so now you're interested?" the man spoke fluent sarcasm.

"Who are you and what do you want from me?" Grant asked, feeling his voice rise.

"I," he paused for effect, "am Marion Cavan, descendant of Ioseph Cavan."

* * *

**So it has recently came up that Liz and Jonas have dropped off the face of the Earth. Yeah? Well they're back, so take that Amelia! **

**-What did you think? (Tell me exactly what you think! I know I'm bossy...)**

**-What does everyone think about Danielle? **

**-Do you have a favourite line from this chapter? What is it?**

**-Does anybody else miss the entire Suite Life series? 'Cause I do.**

**-Any grammar mistakes?  
**

**-Favourite character so far? **

**Peace out,**  
**Ciara :D**


	15. Sadistic Bitches in the House

**AN: Okay, so here is chapter fourteen! yay! Sorry for not updating. Life's been hectic.**

**Anyways, thanks to all who updated the previous chapter! It means a lot :D  
**

**Disclaimed.**

* * *

"Marion?" Grant laughed. "Isn't that a girl's name? Okay seriously, am I getting Punk'd here or something?"

"Silence!" Marion snapped. And at that moment, Grant realized that Marko had left the room, which left him alone with Marion.

"What do you want from me?" Grant asked.

"Tell me Grant," Marion started. "What do you know about your mother and father?"

"My mom is the greatest person I've ever met and my dad is an ass who left the family."

"Is that what they told you?" Marion smirked.

Grant's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

The truth was Grant didn't remember much about his youth. All he knows are stories his mom told him and his days at school. But everything before that was a blur to Grant. So hearing about this from a man he just met, bothered Grant.

Marion didn't answer. He only smiled at Grant. A smile that reminded Grant of a sixty-year-old pedophile. He shuddered. Marion walked towards the door, only turning back to give Grant his parting words.

"I guess it skipped a generation," he said truly saddened. And with that he left the room, yelling for Marko to stay and guard. Grant stayed—not that he could leave anyways—confused at what just happened. _Skipped a generation?_ Grant thought. _What the fuck?_

* * *

"Well?" Danielle asked, feeling herself becoming more and more impatient.

"It depends," Bex spoke slowly. "What do you have in mind?"

"So you'll do it," Danielle confirmed.

"I didn't say that I said 'it depends'," Bex countered. Danielle sighed.

"To put it simply, all you have to do is get information out of the little douche," Danielle said.

"And if I don't?"

"Then you can say bye-bye to your pretty little fingers," she said cheerfully.

"Oh."

Danielle nodded. She seemed to be enjoying this. _That sadistic bitch_, Bex thought.

Danielle fixed her hair as she stood up from her seat. She gave Bex a knowing look

"Just think about it okay?" she said. Bex nodded. "I'll be back later. And make sure you do whatever the hell anyone tells you to do here. Not everyone will be as nice as me."

Bex stayed seated. She couldn't help but feel angry. Angry at The Circle for kidnapping her, angry at Grant for getting her into this mess, and angry at herself for thinking that everything will work out just fine.

She sighed wishing she had her friends with her. She didn't like to admit it out loud, but her friends were her rocks. They kept her grounded. Well ice cream does too, but ice cream doesn't give advice like Cammie, Liz, and Macey do.

* * *

"So did you find any finger prints?" Cammie asked, referring to the serial note.

Liz shook her head, a defeated look on her face. A look Cammie had never seen on her friend's face. She turned to Jonas, who examined the Batman clock for prints.

"I got knuckle prints," Jonas said.

"That's good right?" Zach asked.

"I guess."

"Well can you find out who they belong to?" Cammie asked.

Jonas' eyebrows furrowed. "I can try," he said, though he seemed uncertain. "But I need the correct instruments to do that, right Liz?"

Liz nodded enthusiastically.

"Well what do you need?" Lucas and Preston asked in unison.

::

"So how exactly are you going to get all that equipment?" Zach asked Preston, who had come up with an idea on how to get the equipment needed.

"Have you met my father?" Preston asked, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "There are a lot of things he can get done. Besides, it's not like I ask for things often. I'm sure he can get this done."

"And how would _you_ get the equipment?" Zach turned to Lucas.

Lucas shrugged nonchalantly. "I know people," he said. "But if Justice League here has a more legal way of doing things, then I'd say his way."

'It's Marvel," Preston corrected.

"I don't care," Lucas said tiredly.

"All right Preston," Zach clapped his hands together. "Go do your son-of-a-senator thing."

::

Preston sighed and brought the phone up to his ear only to bring it back down again. To be perfectly honest, Preston had no idea how to say this to his father. Sure his father isn't a bad guy, but his father does tend to become quite cold around his son. Maybe it's Preston's lack of interest in what his father does for a living.

"I can do this," Preston muttered to himself. "I can do this, I can do this, I can do this."

He brought the phone up and dialled his father's number. He fidgeted uncontrollably as the ringing went on. To Preston it felt like ages, thought it was probably just seconds. Finally, someone answered.

"Hello?" his mother's voice sounded tired from the other line. Preston's eyes widened as he realized he had just woken his parents up. After all, it was probably only five in the morning back in New York, where his parents lived.

"Mom?" he asked.

"Preston dear-y!" his mother said, suddenly becoming all mother-like and cheery. "How is California?"

"California's great mom," Preston said. "Where's dad?"

"He's here, hold on," his mother said. Preston could hear the shuffling of the phone and the passing from one person to another.

"Preston," his father's voice rang.

"Hi dad."

"You better have a good reason for waking your mother and me at five in the morning."

"Um, dad," Preston said hesitantly. 'I need your help."

::

"Well?" Lucas looked up at Preston.

"We're good," Preston smiled.

"Awesome," Jonas smiled. "When can we get the equipment?"

"How about now?"

"Seriously?" Liz gaped.

'Nice!" Jonas exclaimed before he started yapping on and on about the pros and cons of equipments used by professionals. Zach shook his head in amusement at his friend, clapping Jonas on the back.

"Calm down, JoBro," Zach chuckled. "Not even Liz is as excited as you."

Jonas looked down sheepishly. "Sorry."

"McHenry," Lucas tapped Macey's shoulder as he picked up his jacket.

"What?" Macey snapped, looking up from her magazine.

"You and Cammie coming or staying?"

"Staying."

"Okay," Lucas said, pulling his jacket on. "Just don't destroy the hotel."

* * *

"Cammie," Macey called as Cammie walked out of Lucas' suite.

"Yeah Mace?" Cammie asked tiredly. She barely had any sleep and she really just wanted to get to bed.

"We need to talk."

"About?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

"Lucas?"

"Don't play dumb with me Morgan."

"Don't play dumb with me McHenry," Cammie countered. "What's with you and Lucas?"

Macey's eyes narrowed at Cammie. She walked over to her friend, grabbing her arm and pulling her back towards the suite.

"What are you doing?" Cammie hissed.

"You and Zach seem to be moving fast. Spill," she ordered. Cammie sighed and told her everything. From how she feels when Zach's around, to her break-up with Josh.

During the times she was speaking, Macey would nod, as if she knows how it feels—she probably does.

"I mean, Josh and I dated for so long and after our break-up..." Cammie trailed off.

"I get it sweetie," Macey smiled reassuringly. "I know that after your break-up with Josh, you really didn't want to get involve with boys anymore. Go on."

"It's just that I haven't felt like this since Josh," Cammie finished. "And I feel like it's maybe time to bounce back and forget about him."

"Well I agree," Macey smiled. "And Zach's a total catch!"

Cammie felt her face turn red. She was about to say something in defeat when an idea came to her.

"So, you and Lucas huh?"

"What?" Macey was caught off-guard.

"Oh come on Macey," Cammie said. "We all know there's a history here."

"Not really much of a history," Macey said honestly. "I grew up knowing his sisters. Not him. End of story. No joke."

Cammie frowned. "Then why do you hate the guy?"

"I don't hate him," Macey said quietly. "I just don't enjoy his existence."

"Right," Cammie sounded unconvinced. "Like you didn't consider ever jumping that hot piece of ass," she joked in her best Bex impression. Back at Gallagher, Macey and Bex had bonded over boys. Those two could talk nonstop about that topic. Whether they're pretty-boy hot like Leonardo DiCaprio, or ruggedly-handsome hot like George Clooney.

Macey went silent. Cammie's eyes widened.

"You so did _it _with Lucas!" Cammie exclaimed.

"What the fuck Cammie?" Macey yelled. "We kissed! Nothing more! Gosh, it's like you pegged me for some prostitute or something."

"A high-end prostitute!" Cammie defended jokingly. "You know for rich people and crap."

Macey laughed and opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by Cammie.

"So was it good?"

"What was?"

"The kiss. Was it good?"

Macey went quiet.

"You _enjoyed_ it didn't you?" Cammie exclaimed, feeling a smile spread across her face.

* * *

"Jonas," Zach called.

"What?" Jonas asked over his shoulder. His eyes fixated on the knuckle print results.

"Who do they belong to?" Zach came up to Liz and Jonas, Lucas and Preston right behind him.

"Some guy named Jeremy McHale," Jonas pointed to the screen.

"What's an innocent looking guy like him doing on the database?" Preston asked.

"Says here that he was taken in by the FBI for hacking the Pentagon," Liz read the screen.

"Jeremy McHale," Lucas murmured. His eyebrows furrowed and he looked as if he were trying to remember something. "I've heard that name before. I just can't seem to remember."

"Have you seen him before?" Zach asked, turning the screen so that Lucas could see.

Lucas shook his head. "No, I don't think I have."

"Just think about it, okay?"

"What now?" Liz asked.

"We find this Jeremy guy," Zach said, pulling his phone out to call Cammie. "Jo, find his address."

"Will do," Jonas said as he began to type vigorously on the keyboard.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Danielle asked.

Jeremy jumped. "I could ask you the same thing. Shouldn't you be seducing some poor loser by now?"

"Shouldn't you be hacking into some porn site by now?" Danielle countered.

"You're funny."

"What do you think they're planning on doing with him?" Danielle asked.

"Well he doesn't seem to know anything about his roots or what he could be capable of," Jeremy said, looking at the screen. The screen showed Grant sitting in the white room with a frown on his face.

"Of course he doesn't know what he could be capable of, he's not even trying to escape," Danielle said. "And he's not even tied up!"

"Well maybe he's smart," Jeremy reasoned. "Maybe he'll survive."

"Jer," Danielle said, using the name only she called him. Over their time in The Circle, Danielle became a sister-like figure to the young hacker. As she had shown to always be there for him, even though they tend to get into arguments a lot. "You're too nice. I told you before, stop being nice! Besides, if he was actually smart, he'd remember who he and his family really are."

"His family," Jeremy chuckled. Rubbing his sore knuckles. He mentally cursed Grant and his stupid Batman clock. "They're legends."

"More like idiots," Danielle said. "If his parents were smart, they wouldn't have run and Grant here wouldn't be living a complete lie."

* * *

**I know most of you are in love with ZachxCammie, so I'll try to give them a moment next chapter. Acutally I'll try to give all the couples moment next chapter. **

**-What did you think?**  
**-Care to read my story with Amelia called _The Argo II_?**  
**-Any grammar mistakes?**  
**-What is on your mind? What do you think will happen?**

**K, bye.**


	16. Of Kisses and Gobstoppers

**AN: I finally updated! **

**Okay, so this is not beta-ed, but I promise the next one will be! **

**Disclaimer: All copyrights belong to their rightful owner. **

* * *

"What do I do?" Bex asked anxiously. It was a very foreign feeling for her. Anxiousness, that is. She'd never really felt anxious before, that's why she's the adventurer of the group.

She finally decided to help Danielle out. After all, she had nothing to lose. And now here she was: standing in front of a screen, watching Grant Newman fidget.

"It's obvious he likes you," Danielle said knowingly. Bex raised her eyebrows. _Grant Newman likes me?_ she thought. "Just flirt with him or something. Do whatever it takes to get him to remember."

"Remember what?"

"A memory," Danielle said quietly. "We're not sure what the exact memory is, but it's important."

"Um," Bex said hesitantly. "Okay..."

Danielle turned to face her. "Just go out there and act. Make up a story, I don't care. Just as long as you get the information out of him," she said pushing her out the steel door.

Bex's eyes widened as the steel door closed shut behind her. She took a deep breath and walked over towards Grant. He looked up from his seat and Bex noticed his eyes light up.

"Oh thank god!" Grant sighed. "I thought you were dead!"

"Thanks for having faith in me," Bex muttered sarcastically. She brushed the hair out of her face and spoke, "Look, I need your help."

Grant raised his eyebrows and Bex hoped that he couldn't tell she was acting. "They said that—that—" she stuttered for effect. "That they'd kill me."

"What are you talking about?"

"Try to remember Grant," she begged. _Please,_ she thought. _Just fall for the act already. I don't want to have to keep lying to you! _

"Remember what?" Grant's eyebrows furrowed.

"Try thinking of your childhood," Bex said. "Anything come to mind?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Grant said. "Maybe if you gave me a hint I could help you, but getting me to remember something you didn't even tell me about is going to be useless Bex."

Bex looked over at the camera in the corner of the room, knowing Danielle was watching. She shot a questioning look at the camera and then the steel door opened.

* * *

"Did it occur to any of you to I don't know, contact the police?" Lucas asked. He was sitting in Macey's rental car with Macey, who was driving, and Preston who sat in the seat next to Macey.

"It did, but it'll cause too many controversies," Macey explained, looking at him through the mirror. "Grant is a worldwide superstar. If anyone else were to find out he's missing, then it'll cause a lot of trouble."

"Exactly," Preston agreed, sucking on a Gobstopper.

Lucas looked enviously at Preston. _Damn, I'm hungry,_ he thought.

"Can we stop for food?" he asked, in a hopeful tone. His stomach grumbled as evidence of his hungriness. "Come on McHenry, I'm starving here!"

"No!" Macey scowled. "We need to find Bex first!"

"Oh my goodness!" Lucas exclaimed and slumped in his seat. "And what if we never find her? Are you going to make me starve to death?"

"We will find her!" Macey glared viciously at him. "Gosh, you're so negative. Besides, death is a good colour on you."

"Death's a good colour on you," Lucas mimicked in a high-pitched voice, which made him sound like a whiny five-year-old boy. "Please, death isn't a colour. It's a state."

"Death isn't a state. It's not even a place in the United States," Preston said, still sucking on a Gobstopper.

"Not that kind of state, smart one," Lucas said.

"Okay, just shut-up you two!" Macey sighed.

Lucas sighed and sat back in his seat. "Where are we even going?"

"You know for a genius, you're really stupid," Macey said. "We're going to find Bex, duh! And Grant."

"I know that," Lucas rolled his eyes. "I meant, where exactly are we going?"

"Jeremy McHale's house," Preston said.

"Oh."

* * *

Cammie fidgeted in her seat. Since they left the hotel, she's been really worried about Macey, Lucas, and Preston. She knew she shouldn't have let those three get in a car. She was slightly worried about what would happen if Macey and Lucas were to get into an argument. _Would Preston stop them?_ She thought. _Probably not._

"Maybe I should move into the other car with Macey," she thought aloud.

"Why?" Liz asked.

"We just left Macey alone with Lucas and Preston," Cammie reminded. "What good thing will we get out of that?"

Jonas', Zach's, and Liz's mouths all formed the shape of an 'O' in realization.

"I see the problem," Jonas said thoughtfully.

After a while, Cammie's anxiousness subsided and she felt herself relax. She stared out the window, hoping that Bex was okay, and that everything will be okay.

::

"Is this the place?" Lucas yawned, getting out of the rental car.

"Apparently so..." Jonas said, looking up from his laptop.

Jeremy McHale's "home" looked more like a warehouse than it did look like a home. It was a big grey building with broken windows and graffiti on the walls. It was located in a remote location in Los Angeles and looked just as uninviting as the location.

"That's a house?" Macey asked.

"May not have been a house, but it was definitely a place where Jeremy stayed," Liz said, trying to be the reasonable one of the group.

"I say we split up," Zach suggested.

"Why do people always say that?" Preston exclaimed. "We are in a very dangerous place right now, and you want to split up? Dibs on the smart people!"

Macey rolled her eyes and looked expectantly at Cammie, but found that Cammie had already gone off with Zach.

"Cam!" she yelled.

"Sorry Mace!" Cammie yelled back. "Zach and I will take the upper floor. Jonas, Liz, and Preston will take the lower floor. You and Lucas scope the area around the building."

"Well, I guess I'm stuck with you," Lucas sighed.

Macey glared at him, but didn't say anything. She just walked on.

"What are we supposed to look for anyway?" Lucas asked, catching up to her.

"I wouldn't know," she replied coldly.

"Oh come on McHenry," Lucas said. "Chill out will you?"

"Don't tell me too chill out, when one of my best friends is still missing!"

"Hey, my best friend is missing too! But you know what? You just have to look at the bright side. Stop being so negative."

Macey didn't speak. They continued to walk, Macey's hands were swinging by her side and when they brushed against Lucas' hands she quickly snatched them away.

"Do I make you nervous McHenry?" Lucas lightly chuckled.

"As if," Macey said in a snobbish tone. "I don't get nervous."

"Really now?" Lucas smirked as an idea formed in his head.

"Why does it even matter to you?" Macey asked, obviously annoyed.

Lucas shrugged.

They continued to walk. Macey was annoyed at Lucas' persistence and Lucas was amused.

A smile contorted on Lucas' face as an idea hit him. As subtle as possible, he slowly backed her up against the wall, placing both his hands at either side of her.

Macey scowled. "What the _fuck_ are you doing?"

"I bet that I can get a reaction out of you," Lucas challenged, smoothly dodging Macey's question.

Macey's eyes narrowed and she pushed Lucas away, but Lucas stayed his ground. He snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her closer. Her breath hitched and he smirked, knowing the affect he was having on her.

"I knew it. I make you nervous," Lucas smiled. His breath was warm against her skin, making Macey shudder.

He kissed her, trailing kisses down her jaw. "C'mon McHenry, give in already," he murmured quietly before capturing her lips with a searing kiss.

She was indignant at first, _very_ indignant. But he soon felt her give in. He smiled into the kiss and gently pushed her back up against the wall. He tangled a hand in her hair and pulled her closer.

Macey's heartbeat was pounding. She knew she shouldn't be doing this. She promised herself: no distractions until Bex was found. It should've been: no distractions _ever_. In fact, she really shouldn't be doing this with Preston still in the picture. But no, she just _had_ to give in.

She buried her hands in his hair as he deepened the kiss. He was a good kisser, she admitted to herself.

After the kiss ended, they were both breathing hard. She closed her eyes and he rested his forehead against hers. It was quiet. She liked quiet.

Then, idiot Lucas just had to break the silence. "Told you I'd get a reaction out of you."

::

"Did you guys find anything?" Cammie asked as they checked into the closest hotel (which wasn't that close).

"Nope," Lucas said casually. He looked at Macey from the corner of his eye and smiled, they didn't even _know_ what they were looking for.

"Um," Jonas started, pulling something out of his jacket-pocket and placing the object on the table. "We found this ring right here."

The ring looked familiar, Cammie noted. Though she didn't know where she saw it from. Maybe it was just the symbol. After all, she sees symbols everywhere. The symbol was a simple carving of the letter 'C' and Cammie wondered what it could possible stand for.

She noticed everyone was staring at the ring, all with confused looks on their faces. All but one. Cammie noticed that Lucas had a slightly different look on his face. _Was it fear? Was it realization?_ Cammie wondered.

"I know that ring," Lucas said.

"What?" Zach asked.

"I've seen it before," he said. "Back when Grant and I were younger, Grant's mom had that ring."

"Are you sure?" Liz asked.

"I am positive."

* * *

"They got into my place," Jeremy said in a panicked tone.

"What?" Marion thundered, causing Jeremy and everyone else in the room to flinch. "Do you know what this means? It means that this could possibly jeopardize everything we've worked for!"

"I understand that sir," Jeremy said bravely. Danielle was impressed. No one ever stands up to Marion, but Jeremy, the youngest in the organization, did! "But—"

"No 'buts''!" Marion interrupted. "Look, I want to see whoever the hell broken into your home now!"

"But we don't even know who they are!"

"Then find out!" Marion yelled. "Now leave."

Jeremy opened his mouth to say more, but Danielle pulled him out of the room just in time. "You messed up Jeremy?" she said coldly. "You weren't supposed to mess up."

"It wasn't my fault!" he said. "They found me through the system. I'm not even _supposed_ to be in the system. I'm supposed to be dead!"

"Then how did they find out?"

"I don't know. They must have some super genius with them or something or maybe they know someone on the inside."

"Just fix this mess okay?"

"I will, I will!" he said, his faces contorting into a look of fear. "I will, just get Marion off my back."

Danielle seemed to think. Then a wicked grin appeared on her face. "We need to see Marko."

"Marko?" Jeremy asked. "Marko hates our guts."

"Oh he doesn't hate our guts," Danielle said. Though she sounded like she were trying to convince herself, more than she was trying to convince Jeremy. "He just thinks we're annoying."

"We _are_ annoying."

"And that's why he loves us," Danielle smiled.

* * *

**So last chapter I promised there will be Zach x Cammie (Zammie, or whatever you prefer), and there isn't, but it's my computer's fault! My computer froze right before I had the chance to save the rest! I'm sorry! **

**-I'll try to update sooner next time (it's summer so yeah) **  
**-I am 90% sure the Zach and Cammie moment will be in the next chapter, But there's a 10% chance I might change it (I probably won't) **  
**-What did you think?**  
**-I know there are grammar mistakes. sheesh! I'll get a friend to beta it next time :D **

**Peace,  
Ciara **


	17. You Twihards Just Don't Give Up

**Ugh. I know, I know: I'm a horrible updater. But... **

**Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own any of the rights unless I stated, and I didn't so**_... _

* * *

_[Insert Will __Schuester's voice here]_

_Previously on Starstruck..._

Bex and Grant get kidnapped and Cammie and the gang end up on a search for them. Bex strikes a deal with the "Enemy" and tries to get Grant to "remember". Meanwhile, the gang search Jeremy McHale's "house" and Lucas gets some lovin'.

_And that's what you missed on Starstruck._

* * *

Bex was taken aback. She was originally expecting Danielle to come waltzing through the door, but instead, she was met by a man she did not know. A man Grant apparently knew.

"Oh, hello Marion," Grant greeted mockingly with a playful tone. "How _are_ you today? Have you come to interrogate me more on my clan? Because I really thought that we were over talking about this Twilight stuff, but I guess you Twi-hards just don't give up, do you?"

"Actually, I've come to show you these," he said, pulling out a manila folder and opening it to show a series of pictures. "I think _these_ might refresh your memory."

Grant's eyes narrowed suspiciously at Marion and then looked over the pictures. At first he was very indifferent about them, but then he frowned, as if a painful memory has come back to haunt him. Bex didn't understand. Grant looked up with steely eyes and stared at Marion. "Where did you get these?" he asked, his playful tone disappeared and was replaced by cold, serious one.

Marion shrugged, satisfied with Grant's reaction. Bex, on the other hand, was still confused. "Where I got them is really beside the point," Marion said dismissively. "What I want to know is what you remember. Something about your dear ol' parents isn't it? I guess Mommy has got some explaining to do..."

Grant gritted his teeth. And Bex opened her mouth to speak, but quickly shut it, knowing she has been complete and utterly forgotten and as of now, would like to keep it that way. "What do you want from me, Marion?" Grant asked.

"Hmm, where should I start," Marion tapped his chin. "Should I start from The Mission or Daddy's departure? Oh who cares—I'll start from the beginning."

* * *

"Look," Lucas began. "I explained it all on the phone, and Grant's mom will meet us here at the hotel tomorrow morning."

"Why tomorrow?" Macey asked.

"Well first of all, it's late," Lucas said. "That drive to Jeremy's place took a lot of our time, and she still has a lot of rescheduling to do with Grant's concerts and crap."

"Why doesn't she just call the police?"

"She said she'll explain when she sees us," Lucas said, rather annoyed with all of the questions. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to get some shut-eye."

They all nodded and went their separate ways. Jonas and Preston headed to the kitchen for food, Liz, Macey, Cammie, Zach, and Lucas all went to get rest.

::

Cammie couldn't sleep. She had been twisting and turning for the last hour and still: no sleep. So she decided to head out to the garden.

The hotel had this beautiful little garden that they used to entertain their guests. It had a small archway that led to the center, which was a circular platform, surrounded by plants, which was encircled by a circular track.

She made her way to the center of the garden, and sat on the wooden bench. She looked up at the stars, just like how she used to when she was younger. She sighed and relaxed. Watching the stars always calmed her nerves. That was until she felt the hand on her shoulder.

"Oh my god!" she gasped. It was Zach! "Don't sneak up on me!"

"I didn't sneak up on you," Zach laughed, taking a seat next to her. "You were just too absorbed in your little world to even notice me approach you."

She rolled her eyes, and relaxed again. She sat down, content, and continued watching the stars.

"Care to share?" Zach's voice broke through the silence. Cammie looked at him expectantly. He shrugged. "You just seem different when you're looking up at the sky. Is there a story here or something?"

"It's nothing."

"It's not nothing."

Cammie sighed. "It's just, when I was little, my dad and I used to watch the stars every night and he'd tell me stories," she started, her eyes beginning to blur as unwanted tears threatened to fall out. "And after my dad died, my mom had a hard time finding a job—erm, finding herself, I guess. So we moved around a lot. I guess the only thing that actually stayed the same was the sky and everything in it."

Zach nodded, understanding what she meant. "Tell me a story."

"A what?" she asked, caught off-guard.

"The stories your dad told," Zach said. "Tell me one of them."

"I—I—it was a long time ago," Cammie said sheepishly. "I don't remember."

"Come on," Zach insisted. "You have to remember something."

"I don't remember, it was a really long time ago," she said. "I mean, I only remember a few lines and—"

She was cut off by a pair of lips crashing down on her own. She froze for a moment, not quite registering that Zach was kissing her. And when she did, she kissed back.

He cupped her face and kissed her in a gentle, yet eager kiss. He pulled her close cherishing the moment.

It definitely was some moment. Since Zach went to an all-boys school, it was hard to find girls. In fact, he had only been in six relationships (as difficult as that may be to believe), three of which were pretend-to-be-my-boyfriend dates, and the other three consisted of real dates with the only girls that he had been fortunate enough to meet—or rather, unfortunate enough to meet, whichever one you prefer.

The kiss ended soon enough, seeing as they both needed to breathe. He smiled at her and she buried her head at the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent.

* * *

Marko sat in his bed, enjoying the rest of his night. It's been weeks since he last had time for himself, and he really wanted to make the best of it. Leaning against the head board of his bed, he grabbed a book and carried on from where he last left.

His eyes began to droop as he read and he knew that soon enough, he'd be asleep. And then someone knocked on his door. He stood up and opened the door. Upon seeing the cheerful faces of Danielle and Jeremy, his eyes widened and he immediately shut the door.

Danielle gasped. "Marko!" she shrieked, not liking the way he shunned her from his room. "Open this door you little douche bag!"

Jeremy cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Um, Marko? Can you please open the door? Um, pretty please?"

Danielle gave Jeremy a look that practically screamed "what the fuck?" but he just shrugged.

Marko sighed. _Trust these to nut-jobs to ruin a good night,_ he thought bitterly.

Finally, he opened the door and reluctantly poked his head out. "Can I help you?" he asked.

"Yes, you can," Danielle snapped, forcing the door open. She stood casually in the room, as if she had all the time in the world. "Nice room you got here, Marko," she said, before quickly frowning in distaste. "All I have is a small cot and a nose-less teddy bear to keep me company."

"You should see my room," Jeremy scoffed. "It's not even a room, it's like a broom closet."

"What do you two want?" Marko asked.

"Marion is this close to chopping Jer's head off," she said, holding her index finger and thumb a centimetre away from one another.

"Why?"

"Because this idiot right here was clumsy enough to allow a bunch of civilians to break into his place," Danielle explained, while jabbing her thumb in Jeremy's direction.

Marko looked disappointed. "Didn't I train you better than this?" he asked Jeremy.

"Sorry."

"Jeremy, apologies aren't going to cut it," Marko said in a reasonable tone, making Jeremy feel even guiltier than he already did. "Innocent people could die, Jeremy."

"I know, I know!" Jeremy said desperately. "I know I messed up. That's why I need your help."

"Then what do you plan on doing?"

Jeremy frowned. He didn't plan on messing up and now he had to suffer the consequence. Suddenly, a thought popped in his head, and he suddenly felt quite confident in himself. "That serum!" he exclaimed. "That serum that we give people to make them forget things—the same one that was used on Grant when he was little."

Danielle and Marko held doubtful looks, making Jeremy's confidence lower. Marko was the first to speak. "It could work."

Jeremy grinned.

"Now we just need to find out who broke into your place," Danielle said, and hen a grin appeared on her face. "I sense finger-print scavenger hunt!"

* * *

Bex twisted and turned in her spot on the cold floor—her apparent bed. Since her meeting with Marion and Grant, she had become more fidgety than ever. She got up from her spot and banged on the door. "Do you I really have to sleep on the floor?" she whined.

"Why is it not up to your standards?" a sarcastically-lazy voice asked from the other side. "Gee, I know you Brits are such freaks with your manners, but do you really have to be all up-in-my-grill—"

"Shut up!" a different voice hissed. Bex rolled her eyes.

"I just want something a little less...sewer-like," Bex said in disgust. "How about my old cell? That was _much_ appreciated compared to this dump."

"No can do Blondie—" the first voice drawled.

"I'm not blonde you bloody idiot!" Bex snapped.

"Right, sure. Still, no can do. Bye!" she heard footsteps and with that she knew they were gone.

* * *

**There! I gave you that Zach/Cammie moment you all wanted (I'm hoping I did it justice...) **

**Not-so-advance thanks to Amelia Letter who beta-ed for me :) **

**-What do you think?  
-Favourite line/part?  
-Do you watch _Glee_? If not then what's your favourite show? **

**-Ciara  
**


	18. Gettin' It On

**Disclaimer: All rights are to their rightful owners.**

**anyways, this is not edited, nor is it the best chapter in the world, but that's only because this is sort of just a filler chapter. **

* * *

Cammie raised an eyebrow as Macey came out of Lucas' room, her hair a mess, and her clothes rumpled. "Well someone got busy last night," Cammie smirked referring to Macey's current attire. She took a bite out of her bagel as she gave Macey a satisfied smile.

Macey scowled. "It's called a bed head, smart one!" she said, walking over to sit next to Cammie at the table. "I went over to use the bathroom in Lucas' room because you were hogging our bathroom, Miss I-kissed-Zach-last-night!"

"How did you know?" Cammie gasped.

"I'm Macey McHenry, I know things."

"Whatever," Cammie mumbled. "I hear Jessica's coming today."

"Who the heck is Jessica?" Macey frowned, munching on her cereal.

"She's Grant's mother."

"Oh."

"Anyways, where are the others?" Cammie asked.

"Preston went somewhere with Zach, Jonas said something about buying a new laptop, Liz is in the shower, and Lucas is still asleep," Macey said, listing off her fingers.

::

"Show me the ring," Jessica said, holding out her hand. They all sat at the table, all staring expectantly at the older woman.

Liz fished something out of her pocket, before handing the ring to Jessica. "It's right here."

Rummaging through her purse, Jessica pulled out another ring identical to the one Liz had just handed her. "They're the same all right..."

"Can you explain to us why Grant and Bex were kidnapped?" Lucas asked.

Jessica didn't answer; she just stared at the rings. And then she looked up. "My husband and I used to work for the Circle of Cavan. The Circle is an organization and they are the ones who took Grant and your friend. When Grant was only 5 years-old, my husband and I left the Circle, and of course, they weren't happy about it," she took a deep breath. "My best guess is that they took Grant to turn him into what we used to be."

"What _were_ you?" Lucas asked.

Jessica let out an exasperated sigh. "Lucas, will knowing my past even help you?" she asked, obviously trying to avoid the subject, but Lucas didn't budge. Sighing again, she said, "We were assassins."

They all looked at her and gawked. "You were an assassin?" Zach asked.

Jessica nodded.

"That is awesome!" Preston said in awe.

"Really, it's not," Jessica gave a hollow laugh.

Liz shook her head. "But what does this have to do with Bex?"

Jessica shrugged. "Your friend was probably just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Cammie groaned. "How are we going to find them?"

"Well I'll tell you this," Jessica said. "We are not contacting the police. I'll help you as much as possible, but we are not risking anymore lives here because I made a mistake. The Circle is very powerful and no police force can take them down."

They all nodded and Jessica clapped her hands together. "All right. First things, you kids need to call your parents and tell them you're all alive. We don't need any more parents freaking out, okay? And you," she pointed at Lucas. "Call your mother! How many more people do you need to tell you that? C'mon kids, chop cop!" she ordered, pulling out her cell phone from her purse. She dialled a number and soon she found herself saying, "Marko, I need your help."

* * *

"Who was that?" Danielle asked as Marko hung up the phone, but Marko didn't answer. Calling his name one more time, Danielle found herself glaring at the older man. "MARKO!"

"What?"

"Who was that?"

"None of your business, Danielle!" he scowled. "Where's Jeremy?"

"I don't know," Danielle muttered.

"He expects us to help him and yet he's late?" Marko sighed irritably.

"He probably has a good reason," Danielle defended.

Marko stared at her. "I don't get it. One minute you're calling him an idiot, the next you're baby-ing him."

"Is someone jealous?" Danielle teased.

"As if," Marko scoffed before changing the subject. "What could possibly be taking that kid so long?"

Danielle opened to her mouth to give a snappy reply when the door burst open. "Hey guys, look what I found," he grinned holding up a vial of green liquid.

"It's green," Danielle said.

"Wow, beauty _and_ brains!" Marko said sarcastically and then turned to Jeremy. "What is it?"

"It's the truth serum."

"The truth serum isn't supposed to be green, Jer," Danielle took the vial into her hands.

"Don't be silly Danielle, it's just colouring," Jeremy grinned. "Look, they even have it in blue, pink, orange, _and_ burgundy!"

"Is he high or something?" Marko whispered to Danielle.

Danielle shrugged.

Marko shook his head. "Listen, there's a change in plans."

* * *

"How are you so sure this guy will help us?" Cammie asked.

"Just because," Jessica smiled.

"Just because? That's not very reassuring," Zach muttered.

Jessica rolled her eyes and took a sip of her coffee. "Because I was the one who trained him."

Jonas choked. "So you're saying this guy has the ability to murder us?"

"Calm down, he won't hurt anyone," Jessica smiled. "And speak of the devil," she stood up abruptly and smiled.

"Hi Marko!" she smiled as they hugged.

"Hello to you too, Miss Jess," he smiled.

She smiled again before her face turned serious. "How's Grant? Please tell me he's all right."

"He's fine. Stubborn and snarky, but fine."

"Oh, thank God! Anyways, where are your friends?"

"Well, meet Danielle and Jerem—they were here a second ago..."

Jessica's hands made contact with her face and the others groaned. Marko gave them all apologetic looks. "They weren't exactly welcoming of the idea..."

Cammie groaned. "Now what are we gonna do?"

"Now we look for them...and ask nicely..."

Lucas scowled. "Whatever. Just remember, I don't beg."

Zach rolled his eyes and muttered something along the lines of 'Of course you don't, Princess' while Jessica smacked Lucas' shoulder. "Lucas! Manners!"

Marko sighed. "Meet me at the room above the auditorium in an hour. I'll bring Jeremy and Danielle, all right?" and with that he left.

Taking Marko's leaving as a cue, they got ready to leave, but not until Jonas stopped them. "Wait a minute! We can't meet them at the room above the auditorium."

"Why not?" Zach asked.

"Need I remind you that that room is private, and last time I checked, assassins are very skilled murderers?"

Zach smirked. "Jo, need I remind you that Jessica is also a skilled assassin?"

Jonas heaved a heavy sigh, but left the subject alone. Getting up from his seat, he reminded himself to stay calm, and for a moment, he actually was. That was until he saw Jessica open her mouth to speak.

"_Was _a skilled assassin."

* * *

**sorry for not updating. i've been busy. **

**by the way, you should go and review, because i miss them (especially since i haven't been on FF much). JK... but seriously. **

**oh and you should go and read my other story The Art of Deception (if you haven't already) GO GO GO! **

**lol**

**Bye! **


	19. In The Eyes of a Mall Cop

**Disclaimed. **

* * *

"Great, just great," Jonas said looking as though he had just done the most horrifying thing a human has done.

"Aw, come on Jonas, it's not that bad," Preston tried to lighten the mood.

"Not that bad?" Jonas asked incredulously. "We are soaking wet in jail, Preston!"

"Mall jail, actually," Preston corrected.

"We'll be fine," Lucas said in a tone he hoped was reassuring. "Besides, I'm sure the others would have noticed we're gone by now and come bail us out..."

**Confused? Why don't we backtrack a bit? **

_[2 hours earlier]_

"Please, we need your help!" Cammie pleaded.

"No, he'll kill me!" Jeremy scowled.

"Shut up Jeremy!" Danielle snapped. "Just work with them already!"

Jeremy's jaw dropped. "You're the one who told me not to trust them!" he cried.

"Well I'm bored so now I'm telling you otherwise!"

"You're a bitch, you know that?"

"Wow, aren't you observant?" Danielle said with obvious sarcasm.

Jessica rolled her eyes. "First of all, this whole trust thing should be the other way around. After all, you're the ones who broke into _my _home and kidnapped _my_ son. Second of all, if Marko is capable of trusting us, then you should be as well."

Danielle pouted. "Marko's a wimp," she said like a little school girl, making Jessica wonder about her mental stability.

"Yeah, the guy really needs a backbone," Jeremy said in a less confident manner than Danielle.

"I'm standing right here." Marko rolled his eyes as if these sorts of things happened every day.

Cammie watched the scene unravel. Even after much convincing from Jessica, she still couldn't believe that she's now involved with a bunch of murderers. What's even worse was the fact that she lost her best friend on what was supposed to be the greatest spring break her said best friend was supposed to experience. She buried her face in her hands as a millions thoughts swirled in her mind.

_What is it with these people and their bipolar personalities?_

_What is going is going on with Bex?_

_Are these seriously the people behind the disappearance of one Bex Baxter? I kind of expected a little more...  
_

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Jessica stood up from her seat. "I'm gonna go get a coffee." _  
_

"I'll go with you," Cammie said, relieved to be out of the tiny room.

"Same here," Marko grunted. "Macey watch the two hoodlums."

"Whatever," Macey replied in disinterest.

::

"You should have seen Marion's face," Marko laughed as he told Jessica and Cammie the story. He had a coffee in one hand and a doughnut in the other. "It was priceless!"

"Grant seriously said that to him?" Jessica smiled, knowing her son was all right.

"Well Marion _is_ a girl name..." Marko laughed again as he opened the door to the room above the auditorium. "It was hilarious—what the fuck happened in here?"

Cammie and Jessica snapped their head to look into the room. Inside, was a very angry Macey screaming a load of profanities as she was tied securely to a chair. "I am Macey McHenry! Get me the fuck out of here!"

"Macey!" Cammie ran to her friend's rescue and attempted to untie some very complicated knots. _Well, someone was a boy scout,_ she thought bitterly. "What happened to you?"

"Those fuckers tied me to a fucking chair, if it wasn't obvious!" she shrieked before turning to Marko. "You! You didn't tell me he had a knife!"

"I didn't know!" Marko put his hands up defensively.

"Just calm down Macey." Cammie patted her friend on the back.

Macey sighed and pulled away from Cammie. "Whatever, let's just find those creeps."

::

"Lucas, Jonas, and Preston, you three take the bottom floor and look for Jeremy or Danielle there," Jessica Instructed.

"I'm going with Cam and Liz!" Macey grabbed onto her friends.

"Okay, so that leaves Zach, Marko and myself. We'll take the top floor, Macey, you guys take the main floor," Jessica ordered and everyone nodded before going their separate ways.

* * *

"Where is he?" Lucas demanded.

"Where is who?" Danielle asked innocently, not at all worried that she has just been cornered by three boys.

"Jeremy," Preston reminded her.

"Jeremy McHale?"

"No. Jeremy Gilbert—yes, Jeremy McHale!" Lucas rolled his eyes.

Mock realization dawned on Danielle's features. "Oh, him. I don't know."

"WHAT?" Jonas cried.

"You heard me," she smirked. Then, using the distracted boys and the crowded mall to her advantage, she made a run for it. The three boys all made an attempt to capture her, but sadly they failed.

* * *

"Quick, he went that way!" Cammie pointed to the left.

"Don't be stupid, Cams, he went the other way!" Macey said, her hands directed to the right.

"I'm not stupid! Mace, let's just go my way."

Macey shook her head indignantly. "He. Went. My. Way!"

Liz stared wide-eyed at her two friends. They were fighting for the pettiest reasons. She was about to make an attempt of stopping them when something caught her eye. Straight ahead—not left and not right—was Jeremy McHale who was about to get away.

"Guys..." she said nervously, her trembling hands pointing towards the departing figure of Jeremy.

Macey's and Cammie's head snapped back to look at Liz, annoyed that their argument was interrupted. "WHAT?" They snapped in unison and Liz whimpered under their murderous gaze.

* * *

Danielle made a sharp turn by American Eagle Outfitters and headed straight to the women's restroom. Lucas, who was right behind her, stopped abruptly at the door.

"What are you doing just standing there?" Jonas arrived panting. "Go get her."

Lucas scowled. "I'm not going in there."

"Don't be an idiot Lucas," Preston looked about ready to faint. "I have been beaten, and assaulted, and you won't enter the ladies room to catch an assassin because of your pride? I chased her out of Victoria's Secret for you guys!"

Jonas nodded in agreement. "Preston's right. You need to take one for the team. Besides, you have three sisters, I'm sure you're used to seeing...lady parts."

"What the fuck? Just because I have sisters doesn't mean I'm fucking a pervert!"

"No, but it does mean that you'll take one for the team." And with that Preston and Jonas pushed him into the ladies room and held the door shut behind him.

* * *

"Macey, shut up and look over there!" Cammie pointed at Jeremy. Macey followed the direction of her finger. There, walking through a sea of people was Jeremy McHale on his way to freedom. Macey's eyes widened.

"Get him!" she shrieked. She ran as fast as she could, not even bothering to stop when the mall cop ordered her to. To her left she could hear Liz apologizing to everyone she ran past, and to her right she saw Cammie zoom past the crowd, not running into a single person. _Show off—_

Macey's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when something hard hit her.

"Watch it freak!" said an irritating little boy eating an ice cream.

Macey gave the boy her most vicious glare. "Who do you think you are to talk to me like that?" she asked, but did not wait for an answer. "And don't you dare look at me like that! What? You mad? Good, stay mad, 'cause I don't care!" Then she topped off her statement by taking his ice cream and shoving it in the little boy's face.

She arrived by Cammie's side and saw that Cammie and Liz had already cornered Jeremy.

"That was a little harsh, Mace," Liz pointed out.

"He called me a freak," Macey rolled her eyes and Cammie laughed.

"You _are_ a freak, but whatever," Cammie laughed and then she turned to Jeremy. "You need to come with us."

* * *

"Come on, boys," she taunted seductively. "Come and get me." And with that she ran towards a sea of people, who were all crowding around the mall's indoor fountain.

"Where'd she go?" Jonas asked, standing next to the aforementioned fountain, Preston and Lucas on either sides of him.

"Great, we lost her—" Preston was cut off by water which suddenly engulfed him as he, Jonas, and Lucas all fell into the fountain. This caused a round of laughter to emit from the crowd of shoppers.

"Have a nice swim, boys," Preston heard Danielle laugh, and Preston couldn't help but wonder how some blonde chick outsmarted all three of them.

The three boys stood up, soaking wet, and stared at the retreating figure of the blonde. They were about to leave when an unfamiliar, more masculine voice rang.

"You three need to come with me."

* * *

"You are a fucking idiot, you know that?" Marko chuckled.

Jeremy glared at the red-head. "Shut up! Look, what do you need?"

"We just need you to cooperate, Jeremy," Jessica smiled.

"Fine, fine. On one condition."

"What did you have in mind?"

"I want out. I want out of the circle, just like you."

Jessica's lips formed a thin line. "I can't guarantee anything, Jeremy..."

"I don't care. I just want out."

"Fine."

Jeremy sighed, releasing a breath he did not realize he was holding. "All right, here's the plan..."

::

"What do you think is going on in there?" Liz asked. Her back was resting against the door and her head was on Cammie's left shoulder.

"I don't know," Cammie admitted.

"What if they don't help us?" Macey asked.

"They will." Liz looked up to see Zach. Cammie gave him a smile and Macey stared blankly at him. Liz stared at his lone form, her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she racked her brain for something. Something was wrong...

"Something wrong Liz?" Zach asked. Liz looked up in surprise and then shook her head.

"It's nothing. It's just have you guys seen Jonas, Lucas, and Preston?"

"No," the others said simultaneously.

"They probably just went somewhere to eat or something," Zach offered. "You know how they get."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

* * *

**AN: sorry for the lack of updates! School is back and it's a big pain :\ anyways, this wasn't edited, i haven't talked to or seen Amelia Letter in a while so I didn't get a chance to ask her to beta for me (I read it over and didn't see any major mistakes, but if you do, please let me know so that i can correct it.) **

**-what do you think?  
-any grammatical mistakes?  
-favourite line/part?**

**-Ciara **

**PS. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favourite, and alerted this story. It means a lot!**

**PPS. Amelia, if you're reading this, come visit! it's been too long since i last saw you... or talked to you for that matter! **


	20. Operation: Bring Bex Back Part 1

"So how exactly is this gonna work? I mean, we can't just waltz in through the front door and say 'Oh hey! I'm just gonna break my friends out of whatever cell they're in. Thanks for your cooperation!'" Jonas mocked, still angry about the previous day's events. When the others finally bailed them out, it had been morning. They hadn't eaten anything and Jonas was afraid one of his companions would finally crack and eat himself already. On the bright side, their clothes finally dried.

Preston shook his head. "That won't work, too upfront." He turned to Jeremy. "Maybe if we tie you to the front of the car they'll think you're our hostage..."

Jeremy stared at him, his eyes darkened. "No."

"Okay..." Preston's hopes fell. Then he brightened. "How about we have Marko, Danielle, and yourself take Jessica as hostage and—"

"That's never gonna work!" Danielle snapped. "They'll expect it."

"Then we'll just have to do the unexpected," Zach concluded.

* * *

"So, do you have a boyfriend?" That was Grant's pathetic attempt at making small-talk.

Bex stared at him, unable to comprehend the fact that this was the same person she had hoped to begin her career. Suddenly, she bolted upright from her spot on the floor and began pounding on the door. "Let me out of here, you freaks!"

Grant rolled his eyes. "How many times do I have to tell that that isn't going to work?"

Bex turned to give Grant a glare. "If it weren't for you and your pathetic attempts at being such smart-ass we wouldn't be in this mess anyway!"

"This coming from the girl who can't keep her mouth shut!"

"Look here, pretty boy, my inability to stop talking is completely off limits to your insults—or rather, your complete lack of talent at making them—so shut it!" Bex huffed before turning away from the blonde boy.

Grant sighed and placed a comforting hand on Bex's shoulders. The girl, in turn, swatted his hand away and tried her very best to bite at him. Grant held up his hands. "Okay, okay, calm down. Look, I'm sorry I got you into this mess. I didn't mean it. Honest."

Bex's scowl deepened and Grant took a step back. That wasn't the reaction he was hoping for. "Whatever," she said.

"Well since you obviously have a great disdain for my presence, then do you happen to have a cute friend who's interested in a tall blonde?"

"Shut up." Bex glared.

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

"Step one: dress Lucas as a woman," Preston listed off his fingers. "Step two: distract guard by getting She-Lucas to sleep with said guard. Step three: enter maximum security facility in complete safety."

"NO!" Lucas scowled.

"I was just kidding!"

"I thought it was a good plan," Danielle quipped, giving Preston a high-five, earning Lucas a smug look from Preston, whose eyes glinted with mischief.

"She wants me," Preston mouthed half-jokingly at Lucas.

Lucas laughed. "You're a dumbass!"

Preston gave a shrug of nonchalance before wrapping an arm around Danielle's shoulders. "Say, Danielle, how do you feel about putting Lucas in pink?"

Lucas rolled his eyes and walked away from the pair. He entered Macey's room where he found Macey, Liz, Jonas, Zach, Marko, Jeremy, and Cammie watching a movie. He plopped down next to Macey and said, "Your friend is a dumbass."

"Preston?"

"No, Liz—yes, Preston!" Lucas said sarcastically. He turned to Marko and Jeremy. "And your friend will probably end up getting pregnant by said dumbass sometime soon."

"What are you talking about?" Macey's eyes narrowed.

The look on her eyes was new to Lucas. Is she jealous or what? he thought. "Nothing," he muttered.

"Anyways," Zach changed the subject, turning off the movie just as Jessica entered the room. "We need a plan."

"We need a name!" Jonas piped.

"Operation: _Bring Bex Back_!" Liz exclaimed, before quickly adding, "and Grant!"

"I like it!" Preston and Danielle arrived.

Hearing no objections to the name, Zach carried on. "All right, so this is how it's going to work..."

Zach and Jonas both explained the plan, taking turns and pausing occasionally to make sure everyone was on the same page. Once in a while, Marko or Jessica would voice out their opinion, in an attempt to make the plan as foolproof as possible. One time, Danielle decided to speak up and idiot Jeremy disagreed, this provoked Danielle to do some very...crafty things. Needless to say, Jeremy was frightened and Danielle had to be bound to the chair farthest from said boy.

"I think you two might be on to something here," Jessica smiled, giving her stamp of approval.

Jeremy scoffed. "Let's just hope they're not _on_ something..." he muttered to himself.

Jessica ignored the other boy. "Where did you two learn so much about these kinds of things?"

Zach gave a light chuckle, flashing the others a smirk before shrugging. "Jonas is just a genius."

* * *

"I really don't think stepping on that ledge is safe!" Cammie warned Jeremy through her earpiece, or as Jonas liked to call it: comms unit.

Jeremy made some sort of indignant reply and stepped onto the ledge. He made it about halfway across before it snapped in half beneath him like a twig. Cammie rolled her eyes when she heard the loud thud that emitted from his crash.

"I told you it wasn't safe..." she muttered.

Zach rolled his eyes. "All right, Gallagher Girl, you're no help here. Out!" He nodded his head towards the door of the cramped van.

"What?"

"You heard me. Now give me the earpiece."

"Fine, be that way," Cammie said half-heartedly, tossing the earpiece at him and leaving.

"Control your girlfriend, would you?" Jonas teased.

"She's not my girlfriend."

"But you wish she were."

Zach gave his friend a menacing glare. "You know, I liked it better when you talked in that freaky-geeky language of yours."

"Whatever you say, lover boy..."

"Fuck you, Jonas. Fuck you."

::::::::::

"I'm okay," Jeremy croaked, taking Marko's extended hand to pull himself out of the shrub he had fallen in.

"Would you quit messing round Jer?" Marko said. "We don't have much time."

Jeremy gawked at his mentor. "Well how was I supposed to know that that ledge was a freaking death trap?"

"Was that not Cammie in the comms who warned you about the ledge?" Marko retorted. "And was that not you who purposely defied her warning?"

"Who asked for your opinion, Marko?" Jeremy said, storming off.

"What was that about?" Danielle asked.

Marko shrugged. They walked over to where Jessica and Jeremy stood, harnessing themselves to the building.

"We're climbing?" Marko asked. "Won't we get caught?"

"No. The problem isn't outside, unfortunately," Jessica muttered. "It's inside."

And with one last nod, Jessica began scaling the wall, with Jeremy not far behind. A few minutes later, Jeremy made a terrible impression of an owl, indicating it was Marko's and Danielle's turn to scale the building. Standing on top of The Circle's roof, Marko felt an unfamiliar feeling of dread. He shook his head dismissing the feeling and joined the other's, where Jeremy was rewiring the keypad lock.

The keypad made a beeping sound, indicating Jeremy succeeded, and they proceeded to enter. They were in a dark, narrow hallway, which, fortunately, was empty. At each end of the hallway was a door.

"Which way?" Jessica whispered.

"I don't know," Jeremy whisper-yelled. "We've never been to this part of the building. It's off limits."

Jessica gave them all an exasperated look. "And you call yourselves assassins? Okay, we'll split up—"

"What?" Danielle hissed. "Splitting up is always a stupid idea."

"Do you have another plan, missy? Look, Jeremy and I will take the right; you and Marko will take left. Rendezvous point is the roof, and keeps your comms on."

"And if something goes wrong?" It was obvious Danielle didn't like the plan.

Jessica smiled at her. "Just scream. You're good at that."

Jeremy stifled his laughter and from what he could hear in his comms, so were Zach and Jonas.

"C'mon, Danielle," Marko said, pulling out a gun. "Time to pay Marion a little visit.

* * *

**an: feel free to hate me and my terrible updating skills. i'm sorry! i'll try to make the second update faster! i promise! **

**yeah... preston's a ladies' man haha**

**HAPPY HOLIDAYS! **

**reviews motivate authors (no joke, they do!) so tell me what you think! **

**disclaimer: i don't own the GG series :\**

**-Ciara**


	21. Operation: Bring Bex Back Part 2

**disclaimed****.**

* * *

_Thump._

_ Thump._

_ Thump._

The beating of his heart had reached a crescendo by the time he made it to the door. _No, this couldn't be happening,_ he told himself. _This could _not _be happening! _

_ Thump. _

He saw her eyes go wide for an abrupt second and then her body went limp.

* * *

**[Before]**

"This is so stupid! Why don't we just go in there and get them?" Macey frowned, her eyes bored into the computer screen in front of her. How long has it been? Probably hours. Yet there were still no signs of any sort of movement—improvement, anything—from Jessica and her rescue team.

A look of incredulity appeared on Zach's face. "I'm sorry, did you wanna die?"

"Who asked you, Goode?" Macey glared at him.

"You just did—"

"Why don't you just go and stargaze with Cammie."

"How do you even—"

A triumphant smirk pulled at the heiress' lips. "I have my ways, Goode; I suggest you don't provoke me."

To her surprise, Zach just gave a smirk back. "And I have _my_ ways, so give my regards to Lucas when you see him tonight, alright?"

Macey froze. She opened her mouth to give a snarky, incredibly cutting, sure to be in-your-face retort worthy of the McHenry name but Zach cut her off.

"Or is it Preston?" He turned away from the seething girl, hiding the more prominent smirk on his features from her. "Oh, what the hell, you could be doing both of them and I wouldn't care."

Macey's scowl deepened at Zach's retreating form. "Fuck you, Goode!"

Zach chuckled, which only angered Macey even more. "Save it for your boy-toys, McHenry."

* * *

"You said _what_ to Macey?" Cammie exclaimed, the slightest hint of a smile pulling at her lips.

Zach stared at her but didn't answer.

"I know we don't know each other that well yet and it's really not my place to say this, but do you have a death wish or something?" Cammie asked, her hand landing on her hip as she stood waiting for Zach to answer her.

Instead, much to Cammie's dismay, Zach just grinned. "You said 'yet'."

_What is he playing at?_ Cammie thought, her eyes narrowing at him. "Yeah, so?"

"So," Zach dragged out the word, "You're saying you still want to get to know me after this?"

"That is beside the point," Cammie said quickly. She walked around him and headed for the door to enter the van. "I'm gonna go get Bex."

"Wait what?" Zach turned sharply to face her.

"Look, Macey's right. It's been hours and I'm not just gonna sit here while she's possibly getting tortured or worst, dead."

Zach gawked at her and opened his mouth to voice his opinion: that was the most idiotic plan he'd ever heard. He shook his head, thinking better of it. "You can't go out there alone and unprepared. You'll die."

"Thanks for your vote of confidence..." she muttered sarcastically, though she silently agreed. She was just a teenage girl. What could she do?

* * *

They stood before a steel door. The door was about twice as tall as a regular one and three times as wide; it was the door to Marion's office. Marko took out a key-card, one him and Danielle had taken from an unsuspecting guard, and quickly slid it across the red beam of light emitting from the door's lock pad. There was a hissing sound and the door began to split in half and slide open, albeit painstakingly slowly.

Danielle rolled her eyes. "You'd think Marion would have better security than this, right?"

Marko pursed his lips. "Don't underestimate Marion, Danielle. He's the leader for a reason."

By now the doors have completely slid open, revealing a large circular room lined with shelves of books. In the centre of the room was a large wooden desk and behind it sat, in all his glory, Marion Cavan.

"Marion," Marko said tightly. Danielle elbowed him hard on the ribs hissing something along the lines of "this is no time for formalities."

"You want to tell me why you're here?" Marion's tone was cold and his calculating eyes bore into them.

"You know why we're here, you freak!" Danielle snapped and Marko resisted the urge to face-palm himself.

Marion remained unfazed. He held up a hand and a group of guards—four in total—emerged into the room. They approached the duo and quickly seized their arms so that there were two guards holding onto each of them. After that, they stood in silence and waited for further instructions from Marion. "Take the girl away. I want to speak to Marko alone."

The two guards nodded and dragged a kicking and screaming Danielle out of the room. Marko didn't look—or couldn't look since he had two guards to deal with on his own. He raised an eyebrow at Marion, a gesture meant for Marion to get on with it already and Marion gave him a smile in return.

* * *

Jessica ran down a dark narrow hallway, a gun held tightly in her right hand. She was panting from running in search for the right cell and there was a loud pounding in her ears (a sound she later realized was the sound of her heartbeat). Jeremy was not far behind her. There was a determined look in his eyes as he and his companion rummaged through the building in search for her son and her son's friend.

Ten cells later and still nothing.

"Where could they be?" Jessica said through gritted teeth. Jeremy just shrugged. He knew Jessica was frustrated and he really did not want to get on the bad side of a highly-trained assassin, especially one who had years of experience in killing over him.

They turned a corner and ran down the next hallway, opening every door they pass by (lucky for them, the Circle only changed the security passwords for the prison cells twice a year). Jeremy entered the password and the door opened. Nothing. Jessica shut the door with a loud slam, an obvious sign of her growing frustration.

"Old ladies these days..." Jeremy muttered under his breath.

"I heard that!" Jessica snapped. Jeremy's mouth closed abruptly.

They arrived at the next door and Jeremy entered the password. The door opened.

Jessica gaped. "Grant?"

* * *

"Grant?"

A woman whom Bex did not know appeared behind the now-open door of her cell and gaped openly at her companion. Grant jumped up from his slumped position on the floor and tackled said women with a bear hug.

"Mom, you're here!" he said with a giant grin on his face. "I love you!"

The woman, Grant's mother, smiled at him and abruptly let go. "I love you too, sweetie, but we have to get out of here." She turned to face Bex, who had remained silent the entire time (something Grant didn't think she was capable of). "I'm assuming you're Bex?"

She nodded.

"Your friends are very worried about you," she said, beckoning Bex to come with them and Bex obliged no questions asked (yet another thing that threw Grant off).

And that's when she saw it—or _him_, rather.

Standing there with that calculating look in his eyes, that lone eyebrow, and an awkward smile on his face. Their kidnapper. Before anyone was even aware of it, Bex was already lunging at Jeremy, clawing at his eyes. Her eyes burned with passion and every bit of her being wanted to see her kidnapper go down.

Grant's eyes were wide as he watched the scene unfold. He was completely befuddled with what was happening that he completely disregarded his mother's desperate calls for his help in prying the angry British girl off of the awkward-looking fellow who had kidnapped them in the first place.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Grant quickly pulled Bex away from their kidnapper, which earned him an earful and a jab in his rib cage. _How pleasant_, he though, already picturing the nice bruise that must have be forming on his torso.

"Let go of me!" Bex growled.

"Bex, please." Grant said lowly next to her ear. "Not now."

Much to his surprise, Bex stopped struggling; only giving him a glare instead of her usual fits and such. And then she stalked off with his mother.

"Women..." he muttered.

* * *

"You and I need to have a talk," Macey said when she entered Perston's motel room, which paled in comparison to the previous hotel they were staying at.

"I thought you were doing surveillance with Zach, Cammie, and Jonas," Preston said.

"Nah," Macey waved a hand dismissively. "Goode drove Cammie and me back here because apparently Cams wanted to go off and save Bex on her own so Goode put me in charge of keeping her from doing something stupid. That's for romance for you..."

A genuinely confused look appeared on Preston's face. "Then aren't you supposed to be watching her?" he asked slowly.

Macey smiled at him—not just any smirk, or grin, but an actual smile. "I locked her in the bathroom."

Preston laughed and then abruptly stopped. "What did you say we needed to talk about?"

"Are you into Danielle?"

Preston choked on air. _Am I into Danielle? _he thought. _She's certainly...hot._ He knit his eyebrows together. Why was Macey asking him this? And more importantly, how does she expect him to answer? "Why, are you jealous?"

Macey rolled her eyes. "Look, Preston, I like you—"

He did not see that one coming.

"—I do, but I don't know if I like you the way I used to like you...or the way I used to think I liked you. And I know this is completely out-of-character for me to say, but I just need to know if there's something between us."

Preston stared at her. He should be saying something to her, anything at all, but he couldn't think of anything slightly logical to say. Instead he resorted to: "I don't know; you're the boy-genius here."

Macey glared at him. And then she stepped forward and kissed him. Right on the lips.

He also did not see that one coming.

Her arms went around his neck and his hands involuntarily slid around her waist to pull her closer. When they pulled apart, Preston was breathing hard and Macey had a questioning look on her face.

"Did you feel anything at all?" she asked.

"I felt your very soft lips—"

"Preston!" she slapped his shoulder. "Be serious."

"No, I didn't... " he said quietly, as to not disappoint her. "Surprisingly enough."

Macey was quiet for a while, which only proved to panic Preston even more.

_ Oh, no, what if I hurt her feelings?_ he thought. _Was I supposed to say yes?_

And then she grinned. "Good, 'cause neither did I." Macey stepped away from Preston, who was looking more confused than ever.

"It's Lucas, isn't it?"

Macey scoffed. "Lucas? Please."

Preston rolled his eyes. "Macey, for a boy-genius you really are stupid. It's obvious he likes you and apparently the feeling is mutual."

"Don't get philosophical on me, Winters." she glared at him, though Preston could the smile pulling at her lips. "Lucas likes no one but himself."

"We're back to last name basis?" Preston said in mock-hurt and Macey laughed. "But in all seriousness, Macey, I think he'll make an exception for you. After all, so did I."

Macey scoffed. What kind of crap was he playing at? "_You_ made an exception for _me_? Please. I made an exception for you. You've never had a girlfriend 'till you met me!"

Preston raised an eyebrow at her and Macey shot him a look that practically said _don't patronize me. _"Do you really think that, Mace?"

Macey gasped. "No way," she said, a look of disbelief on her face. "No-freaking-way! Who was it?"

Preston shrugged.

"Janine?" she guessed.

Preston shook his head.

"Denise?"

"Close."

"Hipster Denise?" she guessed again.

He shook his head.

"Actress Denise?"

Another shake of his head.

Macey's eyes widened. "No, no, no, no," she breathed. "You dated model Denise and never told me?"

He grinned a very un-Preston-like grin. "You never asked."

* * *

Danielle tapped her fingers nervously against the wall, glaring at her guards who were now leering at her. She was about to blow them off with her colourful use of words when Marko burst through Marion's office door and yelled at her to run.

She did as she was told, no questions asked. She heard the sounds of gunshots and two loud thuds and realized that Marko must have shot the guards. A few moments later she saw Marko catch up to her.

"What's going on?"

"Jessica just contacted me. She said they're out. Why, didn't you hear?"

Danielle shook her head and proceeded to yank the comms unit out of her ear. The stupid things were defective and she hastily threw them on the floor. She could hear footsteps behind her and she knew they were catching up to her and Marko.

"We have to split up," she said.

"What?" Marko exclaimed. "You said it yourself, splitting up is a stupid idea!"

"Split up and meet me at the lobby!" she yelled and turned the next corner.

* * *

_Thump._

_ Thump._

_ Thump._

Marko turned another corner, dodging bullets that the guards fired at him. He _had to make it to the lobby_, he chanted in his head. _Make it to the lobby!_

He turned another corner and swiftly slid down the railings of the stairs, all the while shooting at his pursuers. He jumped off the railing and continued his sprint. Only one more turn and he would be in the lobby. _Danielle, you idiot_, he thought, _you better be there!_

That's when he heard it: The ear-splitting noise that could only be defined as a scream.

_Danielle. _

His eyes widened and he ran faster towards the door.

_Thump._

_ Thump._

_ Thump._

The beating of his heart had reached a crescendo by the time he made it to the door. _No, this couldn't be happening,_ he told himself. _This could _not _be happening! _

_ Thump. _

He saw her eyes go wide for an abrupt second and then her body went limp.

* * *

**an: yeah, yeah i'm a terrible person for not updating sooner. no need to say it twice... anyways, it's my summer break so hopefully i can get chapters out more quickly :) the story is almost over anyways so, you know, only a couple more chapters to go...**

**-what did you think of this chapter?**

**-any idea what will happen next?**

**-any grammar/spelling mistakes? let me know**

**bye :)**


	22. Out with the Old, In with the New!

**disclaimed****.**

* * *

**[Time Skip]**

"So, Gallagher Girl," Zach started, using his nickname for her as they walked aimlessly around the mall. They've been doing so for about an hour now and Zach vaguely wondered if people thought they were lost. "I was thinking..."

"About?" Cammie urged, walking involuntarily closer to him.

"Blackthorne isn't _that_ far from Gallagher," he said, stopping in his tracks and turning to face her. He gave her lopsided grin. "It'll be nice to have someone other than Jonas around. Come to think of it, Jonas is leaving for some he got lined up in Washington, so that means I'll have no one around. Unless..."

"Is this your way of asking me out?" Cammie stifled a laugh.

"That depends; is it working?"

She laughed, making him smile—an actual smile, not a smirk, not a grin; a smile. "Yeah," she nodded.

"Good," he said. One of his hands came to cup her cheek and his other arm came to slide around her waist. Cammie's breath hitched due to their proximity, which tugged a smirk at his lips.

"Maybe this time we can finally go on an actual date without..." she trailed off.

"Without guns, or assassins, or missing best friends and their pop star obsessions," he finished for her with a grin.

Cammie's breath was shallow. Their faces were extremely close by now and she could feel his hot breath on her cheek. Then she thought of where they were. _Oh my God, we're in a mall, she _thought. _With people around._ Her face heated up. _We're in a mall! _she mentally slapped herself. _We're in a freaking mall_—

Her self-conflict was abruptly cut-off when Zach leaned in and pressed his lips against hers.

Mother of God, Zachary Goode was kissing her! Her heart fluttered.

(Her heart _never _fluttered!)

She closed her eyes and leaned in and his arm tightened around her, pulling her closer. All of a sudden, all thoughts of kissing a boy in front of strangers in a mall disappeared from her mind.

All she knew was that an exceptionally good-looking boy was kissing her and it felt horrifyingly right.

* * *

Preston walked down the white-clad hall leading to the intensive-care unit of the hospital. Stepping in front of his desired door, he took a deep breath before entering. Preston didn't know what to expect. This was his first time here but seeing a tired Marko there and Jeremy's tear-stained face didn't surprise him. What did surprise him, though, were the two seriously buff guys wearing some impressive-looking tuxedos in the corner of the room.

"Who are they?" Preston asked.

"Agents," Marko offered. "We may have helped put an end to Marion's plans, but we're still not the greatest Samaritans you'll meet."

Preston nodded in understanding before his gaze landed on Danielle's unconscious form. "How is she?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Alive," Jeremy sniffed. "Thankfully."

Preston stepped up to stand next to Danielle's bed. He took in her appearance, noting that she still absolutely gorgeous even in a hospital gown. He also noted with a slight chuckle that if she were awake right now, she's probably be ranting about how hideous her hair must look (something he'd ordinarily hear from Macey, but Danielle was no exception to such things). Preston turned to face Marko and Jeremy. "Do you guys mind if..." he trailed off.

"No, not at all," Marko said, standing up and heading for the door with Jeremy. They talked with the agents and a moment later, one of the agents accompanied them outside leaving the other in the room. Preston turned back to look at Danielle.

"Hey," he sighed softly, taking one of Danielle's hands in his. "It's me Preston..." he continued to talk to her, telling her about the things she's missed in the last couple of days. He probably sounded like an idiot, but he didn't really mind.

Macey would be proud.

Earlier on that day he had breakfast with Macey, who had lectured him about his would-be relationship with Danielle. She also told him that sulking over Danielle's condition wasn't going to help and then proceeded to throw bread crumbs at him (in public, mind you) until he finally left for the hospital to see Danielle.

He told an unconscious Danielle about his conversation with Macey, even saying something along the lines of "maybe you and I could go out some time...you know, once you wake up. Considering you don't go to jail or something. Unless you're into that sort of thing. Are you?" He felt his face heat up when he said that. _I hope you don't think I'm some sort of creeper when you wake up,_ he thought.

He kept talking, only pausing for a moment when he swore Danielle's hand twitched under his. He waited for a moment to see if something actually happened, thinking maybe he should call Marko and Jeremy back into the room, but nothing happened again. He blinked and stared at his companion's unmoving form before he rested his head on their joined hands.

* * *

Liz hummed softly as she browsed through her computer. Everything was back to normal now. Bex was back and brazen as ever, Cammie has a boyfriend (Macey and Bex had teased her endlessly about it, even Liz joined in), Macey and Preston were now apparently friends, and they were all finally going home.

_You've got mail,_ her computer screen blinked at her. Shrugging, she clicked on the email.

Suddenly, her screen went blank.

In hindsight, she probably should have seen it coming. The suspicious looking message—well, _now_ it looks suspicious—and the fact that she wasn't even logged on to her email, would've been served as total giveaways if she'd been paying closer attention. Mentally slapping herself and mutter an "oopsy daisies", she desperately started clicking her computer, trying to prevent any damage that would surely come.

The screen lit up again. This time it contained a message:

_Gotcha! You're losing your touch, Liz. _

_-J_

Liz narrowed hey eyes, but allowed a small smile to appear on her face. She rebooted her computer and then began typing away once again. Summoning everything she's picked up from knowing Bex Baxter and Macey McHenry—which isn't much because you really wouldn't want to pick up much from the two girls who are most capable of causing trouble—and quickly wrote a reply.

_Bring it on._

_-L_

_Enjoy the virus, Jonas,_ she thought, satisfied with her work. After all, it takes a hacker to defeat one.

* * *

Macey carefully folded a shirt and placed it in her suitcase, making sure everything was in the right order.

Contrary to popular belief, Macey was the by far the neatest and most organized packer out of all four of them. Bex was always impatient; chucking her clothes into her suitcase until it piled into what resembled a dumpster, before promptly sitting on the lid in an attempt to get it to close. Cammie was no better. She folded her clothes, yes, but then once she had finished all the essential folding she'd finish off by pulling a Bex Baxter by throwing everything in her suitcase without a second thought. Then there was Liz. Liz may pack just as neatly as Macey did, but the thing about Liz is that she packed more electronic devices than she did clothing.

Placing the last of her things in her bag, she hummed a tune, thinking about what Preston had said to her about Lucas. Her and Lucas? Together? It wasn't a completely foreign idea to her, but the idea usually only posed as a joke. Sure, Lucas was not-bad looking with his grey eyes, jet-black hair, and leanly-muscled build. Oh, who was she kidding? He's gorgeous, but he's not exactly boyfriend-material.

Lucas may be smart, charming, and good-looking, but Lucas was also rude, arrogant, sly, sarcastic, and not to mention a complete and utter commitment-phobe—

Her thoughts were cut off by the sound a familiar voice. "Would you stop it with the singing? You're shattering my eardrums."

_Speak of the devil. _

Macey turned and glared. "Could you please stop existing? Your mere presence is burning my eyes."

Lucas smirked, leaning against her hotel room's door. "You wound me, McHenry."

"I'm glad." She returned his mock-hurt expression with her very own patented mock-sweet one. "What do you want, Lucas?"

"I came here to talk to you."

"You came here to talk to me or you came here to ruin my day?" she asked standing up from her position on the bed.

For a second, Macey thought she saw hurt flash in his eyes, but then just as quick as it had appeared it was gone. Typical. _How does Grant stand him? _she wondered.

"I was wondering if"—he paused, looking away almost as though he were embarrassed and Macey raised an eyebrow, taking pleasure in seeing him act this way—"it's okay for me to ask you out?"

"You're asking me for permission to ask me out?" she drawled.

Lucas rolled his eyes and growled under his breath. She was _so_ making him work for it. He stepped forward towards her and pulled her against him. He rested his forehead against hers, their lips inches apart. "Will you go out with me or not?" he breathed out.

Okay, now she had to strategize. After all, she didn't become boy-lingual master for nothing. Should she play hard-to-get? Should she go for it? (That's what she's always told Cammie.) What should she say? "Sorry, I'm not interested"? "Not in a million years"? "What part of your mere presence is burning my eyes did you not get"?

All of which would have acceptable comebacks, but none of which she chose.

Instead, she nodded her head numbly and not a second later Lucas' lips were on hers. The kiss started out slow and soft, but then it turned eager and heated. He fell back on the bed, pulling Macey onto his lap, not once breaking the kiss. He smirked against her lips. God knows she probably wanted to slap him right now for putting them in a possibly-compromising position, but he honestly couldn't care less. He was in an extremely hot make-out session with a beautiful girl—she happened to be sitting on his lap, mind you—on a bed.

He wasn't one to complain.

When they broke apart, they were both breathing hard. Lucas grinned down at her. "This means you have to come as my date for my sister's wedding."

"Okay..." she answered, not quite knowing where he was headed.

"My mom will take it easy on me when she sees you and me together—oh yeah, I finally talked to my mom, by the way," he said, more to himself this time. "She likes you better than me. _Me,_ _her own flesh and blood_. Unbelievable."

Macey scoffed. "Is this what this whole relationship is about? You're using me to get to your own mother's good graces? I can't believe you—"

She never got to finish her outburst because Lucas' lips were back on hers, shutting her up.

She noted to slap Lucas later for implying that she needed to shut up.

* * *

It was the day of their flight; Macey walked briskly through the crowded airport, accompanied by Lucas and Grant. Well, actually she kept a hand locked securely around Grant's wrist as she dragged the poor guy through said airport.

"Where are you taking me?" Grant exclaimed.

"We have to hurry," she said, tagging at his arm.

Grant was appalled. "Lucas," he yelled at his friend in an accusing tone. "Tell your girlfriend to let go of me!"

When Lucas only shrugged, Grant began struggling against Macey. "You know, if you weren't a girl," Grant started, cutting his eyes at Macey. "I would have hit you by now."

Macey abruptly stopped her dragging and turned to face him and returned his look with an even more intense one that would make a grown man cower in a corner. "You know, if you weren't a pop star, I would've castrated you by now," she deadpanned.

Grant's mouth shut with a click. He turned to Lucas "I like her. Don't let go of this one, Luc."

"I am not an object—"

"Mace," Lucas interrupted. "Don't you have a flight to catch?"

Lucas' comment—err, question—seemed to have worked since Macey began walking again, making sure her grip on Grant's wrist was impenetrable. Her steps were quick and confident, which Grant found quite remarkable for someone in heels. _Heels! _When they reached Macey's desired location, they were met by Macey's friends.

"Where have you been?" Cammie asked. "Our flight leaves in five minutes!"

Macey was not fazed, which only served to faze everyone else. "No, it doesn't."

"Yeah, it does." Liz spoke up this time. "You said so last night."

Macey looked like she was debating something with herself, muttering things under her breath. Things, Grant, unfortunately could not hear. "I lied."

"_What?_" the reply was unanimous.

"Grant, talk to Bex," she said pulling him towards the British girl. "Bex, talk to Grant. Everyone else, move out."

Grant cleared his throat uncomfortably and Bex shifted away from him slightly.

"We really don't need to talk," Bex said. She moved to leave, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Her eyes flickered dangerously towards his. "You're lucky it's me. Had it been any other girl that you'd grabbed, you would've—"

"Fortunately, I don't go around grabbing other girls." There was an underlying tone to his voice, making Bex avert her eyes from his.

_Smooth, Grant,_ he thought bitterly. _Now she's mad at you._

Grant took a deep breath. "You were chasing me—"

Bex scoffed. "You have no idea how long we chased you or the amount of effort we actually put in it!"

"I'm flattered?" his reply came out as a question.

"Don't be."

"Right." He took a deep breath again. "Well, Grant Newman doesn't chase after people..."

"And you're point is?"

_Here goes nothing..._

"I'm chasing you." He meant it in a romantic kind of way, but his proclamation could be easily mistaken as weird and...stalker-ish.

However, something in her eyes changed; they softened slightly, which Grant gladly took as a cue to go on. "You know, when I first met you I thought you were troublesome. Then you tried to kidnap me, and you became even more troublesome. And then we got kidnapped together, but by then you were troublesome _and_ hot.

"Look, Bex, what I'm trying to say is that I like you. You're crazy and you probably hate my guts, but you have your moments and you can be nice sometimes—you know, when you haven't been provoked. You're fiery, presumably-talented, loud, opinionated, and hot. Like, really hot—"

"I get it!" Bex stifled a giggle.

(Because Bex Baxter does _not_ giggle!)

"Do you wanna go out with me sometime?" Grant suddenly blurted.

"I don't know, you're Grant Newman..." she was teasing him now.

"Are you gonna make me beg?"

Bex shot him a look. "I was thinking about it."

"Please don't make me beg..."

"Fine," Bex sighed overdramatically. "But it's gonna have to wait. I have to check back in at school first. They probably think I'm dead."

He grinned. "I'll take it," he said. "Oh, and if you're still interested in that audition..."

Her eyes lit up. "Are you serious?"

He nodded and she jumped up and tackled him with a hug. Literally _tackled_ him.

* * *

**an: alright. that's about it. yes, _Starstruck_ is finally over... i might be post an epilogue, so keep your eyes peeled! **

**please review and tell me what you thought! should i write an epilogue? should i not? **

**thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed this story! it really means a lot!**

**-Ciara**


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